Reminiscent
by unhappytidings
Summary: Hermione enjoys the quiet life as a professor a few years after the war. It isn't until 2 young men come from 1978 and fling her into the past that she starts having issues. Will she return to the future saving more than was lost? Non-epilogue compliant
1. Isn't Life Swell?

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: Thank you for clicking! This story is rated 'M' for adult situations and language in later chapters. This means you should not be reading this unless you are over eighteen in the first place. I will never be ridiculously graphic in my description, but there are sexual situations here. This is my own twist on a timeturner fic, but the last fourth will not be in 1978. Also, this story is a lead in to my Drarry_. _They are both standalone fics, though. It wasn't stated on the description, so let me tell you this story veers completely off course after the events of _Deathly Hallows. _It doesn't include or lead to the epilogue, rather Hermione makes her own future. The future Hermione manages is not too far from the truth, if you want a peek at the future she sets forth, the story (_Blind_) after this one has been started. Thanks and review.

* * *

Reminiscent

The fresh coat of gold on the singular plastered wall of the Defense against the Dark Arts Room still gleamed brightly in contrast to the gray stones of the ancient castle. The flickers of the lantern filled with the dimly burning candle above made shadows across the scroll of a fifth years' parchment as Hermione pushed back her curly mess of a ruined bun from her face for the hundredth time that night. She cracked her neck subtly and yawned. Hermione made one more green corrective mark and placed her quill aside. Stiffly stretching her limbs out to relieve herself from the hunched position she had fallen into while squinting to see the hastily scrawled lines of a very distracted student, she made an attempt to straighten herself. Upon realizing exactly how sore she was from hours of hunching over papers, she stole a glance at her clock.

The numbers on the face of the clock were super-imposed in a digital looking blue while several hands behind the blue numbers had initials and were pointing in several directions. She sighed as she watched H.P. tick along clockwise until it had swung a half-face from the Ministry to Hogwarts, in junction with three other hands. D.M., H.G., and N.L. seemed to be constantly on this point of the clock, while if any muggle looked at it, the H.P. hand would sway back and forth between a place around Ministry/nine and Hogwarts/three. L.L., G.W., and R.W. were the only ones that really moved erratically anymore. G.W. passed through Great Peril/seven more often than any of the others, but what was quidditch without a couple broken bones and mild amnesia here and there. L.L.'s hand seemed to teeter on Ministry often enough, but L.L. had a habit of being stuck on Lost/five almost too often. R.W.'s hand often hit Home/twelve and stayed for quite some time. As Hermione stared at the magical clock before shaking her head as to wake herself up and read the blue flashing numbers to herself. The time ticked 2:22 AM and Hermione moaned.

She was irritated with herself then for forgetting to set her clock to remind her to go to bed early. Letting out another exasperated sigh, she glanced at her large cherry wood desk askew with assorted year's homework and removing her wand from under the nearest green blotted scroll, she made quick work of tidying everything back into graded and ungraded piles. She righted the frame of Draco and Harry's wedding, smiling as she caught a bright grin from a well-dressed Harry as he put his arm around Draco. Draco in return smirked and snaked his hand around Harry's back. Draco's eyes alighted for a splinter of a second before returning his mocking grin to his face for the magical camera taking the picture.

The day the couple got married three months ago, the Ministry shut down for an hour while the private ceremony went on in front of the fountain in the lobby. The Prophet still writes about the "Miracle Match" every shred of a story they get. She smiled as the scrolling headline, "THE MALFOYS ARE PART VEELA!" on yesterday's prophet floated to the rubbish bin. She let the paper crumple itself into the heap, thinking to herself exactly how spot on they were for once. Harry and Draco were brilliant for each other, and in fact when Harry found out he was gay, Hermione worried there would be no presentable boy for Harry to bring to the tabloids. Draco had seen his share of the Prophet's ramblings and knew how to deal with it in a way that benefited him, as a team Harry and Draco seemed to be flawless when it came to press. Harry had never been too exemplary in his dealings with the press but if anyone could fix that, it would be a Malfoy.

Ron Weasley had craved attention for years and then when finally bombarded with it, he didn't seem to care much or give the news much to be interested in. His wedding to Lavender Brown two short years after the Battle of Hogwarts seemed to be a godsend for him. Hermione's relationship with Ron prior to Lavender's rekindling romance was that of a wet cat. It seems he could never do the right thing to make her happy, and in turn, Hermione could never do the right thing to keep him from making her cross. As it was, Hermione and Harry visited Ron at home as little as possible, preferring to meet him as needed for lunch away from his crazy wife.

Lavender loved and hated Harry and Hermione respectively and only put up with them when she absolutely had to, which is why her name had never made it as a hand on Hermione's delicately crafted clock. In truth, Hermione loathed Lavender and was glad that she wasn't expected by Ron to go and see them too often. This was for everyone's benefit, including Ron's, considering Lavender almost killed him the last time Hermione and Ron had lunch without Harry. As it was, Ron was still tirelessly happy with his life. He enjoyed his three children immensely, and from the most recent gossip via Ginny, Lavender was about to surprise him with numbers four and five. She straightened the pictures of Ron's family portrait and Ginny's quidditch shot next to Harry's wedding and she collected her wand and wide-rimmed blue and white Victorian teacup from the desk.

Tiredly moving toward the hall, she flicked her wand toward the lantern, and as it went out, she paused. The swishing of a cloak caught her attention, and as soon as she held her breath, so did the cunning stranger as well. She continued on a second later toward her private rooms and the stranger's back cracked loudly from behind her. In a second, Hermione had totalused the perpetrator, and she ripped off their cloak. Upon seeing him she sighed exasperatedly and dropped the cloak down in a heap. Harry Potter laid there rigid as a board on the hard ground. She spelled him relaxed and cocked an eyebrow in a look that said, 'Did you really just do this?' Hermione helped him up after a quick 'enervate' from the tip of her wand and hugged him. "Harry, why are you skulking about the halls like a contemptuous sixth year? Don't you have a direct flooway to Draco's rooms? And let me mention, I could hear you coming from centuries off." Harry chuckled and straightened his silver rimmed glasses on his nose.

"Draco got roped into patrolling tonight, because Filch is out at St. Mungo's again. Thought I'd try and find him without waking everyone in the school, but I just got off a double-shift doing loads of paperwork, by way of one Percy Bloody Weasley. I figure I'm dragging my feet more than normal. Besides it's not as if I expected Hermione to _still_ be awake at this late hour." He smiled warmly and placed his arm around her shoulder. "How have you been, Hermione?" He directed her toward her private rooms in a casual stroll.

Draco came around the corner in front of them, his wand bright and in front of him. "Hermione, you would be the one to sway Harry back to your rooms." He smirked darkly and sauntered along to plant a lingering kiss on Harry's cheek. "After all, you are responsible for all of Won-Won's flaws." He mocked in Lavender's disgustingly shrill voice. Hermione made a face and lightly punched him in the arm. It had taken a while for Hermione to come around when it came to Draco, but it seemed that they had at least one dislike. Lavender Weasley.

In fact, it would seem that no one in the group could stand Lavender, besides Ginny. On Ginny's count, it was more a family function than it was ever a pleasure to spend countless hours getting spoken at about every in-and-out of Ron being "a sorry excuse for a man." Draco did his trademark smirk at Hermione's punch and walked arm-in-arm with Harry accompanying Hermione to her chambers. Hermione smiled at them both, and Draco looked at Harry knowingly. Harry looked at his watch and rolled his eyes. "Hermione, how are you going to be up in four hours to get ready for class? That's simply ridiculous. I mean sure, Malfoy over here doesn't have a class until ten am so that makes a shred more of sense, but you, I figured you'd grown out of your old habits by now." Hermione just smiled lightly and opened the door to her chambers calling a simple, "Night gentlemen" over her shoulder as the door slammed shut.

Draco rolled his eyes and laced his fingers with Harry's as soon as Hermione was out of sight. "Harry, I wish she would have lent Dumbledore's old turner to me once or twice, how you keep me up, but I have to deal with my husband's bad manners on my own." Harry chuckled darkly and tugged along at Draco's fingers, pulling him down toward the Dungeons. Hermione listened to the whispered echoes in the hall, and before Harry and Draco's voices had faded completely, she had already slipped under her sheets.

She looked at the replica of the clock that was in her classroom next to her bedside. Sighing heavily at the blue '2:30' staring back at her; she pulled the time-turner out of her bedside drawer and placed it carefully beside the clock. Hermione cast a quick charm on her clock to alarm her of 6:30, so she could go back in time and sleep another four hours before seizing her day. Settled on her plan, Hermione slipped her hand underneath her pillow and hastily fell asleep.

The familiar sonata wafted into Hermione's mind to obstruct her slumber and she lazily reached to quiet the clock and twist her hand around the time-turner on the bedside. She sat up in bed and swung her legs over the side without getting off. Reaching for her wand with her other hand awkwardly, she realized that the time-turner, which should have been around her neck already in a practiced movement, was still held lightly in her hand and connected to the bedside. Worried that she had attached it to something that she might knock over in her stupor, she reluctantly opened her tired eyes.

There was a tall, lean shadow also holding onto the time-turner with a loose grip, hoping perhaps that she might drop her grasp perhaps. Hermione became wide awake in an instant and her wand hand instinctively connected with the shocked intruder's face. His hand came up in pain to cover his face and the one wrapped in the turner's chain went for his wand. Hermione shot an 'expelliarmus' in his direction, and then a 'petrificus totalus' had him on the ground a second later. Hermione stood and lit the room, hastily gathering the robe at the end of her bed to count herself decent. With her wand pointed steadily at the frozen body on the ground, Hermione found her breath hitching in her throat. The young man on the ground was never a student of hers, but a teenage Sirius Black.

Her voice was the first to return to her after having blinked several times to try and drive away the unmistakably handsome frozen face on the floor. "Sirius…" Hermione gasped, as she slowly removed the spell from his form. As his features unfroze the look of shock from his rapidly reddening face, Sirius' eyes went wide in a mixture of pain from the punch that had been delivered and horror that he had been caught. Eyeing her lightly and then making an almost unnoticeable gesture to the door of her chambers which had very suddenly started to swing shut. She totalused the unseen intruder and in an instant had pulled off the invisibility cloak that she knew she'd find there. There, staring back at her frozen on the floor was the spitting image of Harry, but on closer inspection could never be him. She let him go, an instant later motioning at him to go and stand next to his friend. They looked at each other, obviously shocked, and then a second later it seemed that they had maintained their composure completely. They smiled smugly and both crossed their arms as if they had practiced it a million times. Her hand held tightly around their two wands and some of the turner's chain.

Sirius' smile went wider when Hermione couldn't bring herself to speak. "Yes, it's us love; in the flesh." Hermione shook her head lightly and rolled her eyes.

"What kind of joke is this? Who put you up to this?" She spoke shakily. They both looked at each other again and were silent.

"I'm serious. Malfoy wouldn't dream of something like this. Even he knows that this stuff is an uncomfortable…"

James made a face of disgust and raised an eyebrow. "How could Malfoy put us up to anything? He could hardly get himself…" Sirius snickered darkly and they both looked at her again.

"Disgusting and rather nonsensical if you've seen the papers…"Hermione paused again, looking at her clock as if out of habit. Then the idea dawned on her.

"James? Do you have some parchment on you?" He didn't give it a second thought before that unmistakable piece of parchment, she had seen so many times before. She smiled lightly when Sirius also pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill.

"It won't help you to write us up though. We'll have graduated by now." They both snickered. Hermione paused again looking at the parchment she knew was the Marauder's Map. She glanced at the two men's faces again and wondered if it would be all right to do what she had planned. A second later she had pointed her wand at the parchment and said that age old swear barely a breath above inaudible. It was revealed to her a second later, and James and Sirius' mouths fell open in shock. She pointed her wand at them again as she glanced down to the names next to hers. The delicate handwriting was undeniable. 'Sirius Black' and 'James Potter' showed perfectly. Had this been some outrageous jest, the two standing considerably shaken in front of her would have any name but theirs. She pointed her wand at the document again and it went blank as she said the words. She shoved it back into James' hands, feeling suddenly very nauseous. As if unable to believe what she had just proved to herself, she started firing off questions.

"Sirius, how old are you? James, who's your sweetheart? Why are you here? What are you looking for?" Hermione stammered out.

They both looked completely aghast with confusion. "How do you know us?" Sirius asked, looking at James the whole time. James stepped forward then and looked Hermione straight in the eyes.

"Let's just tell her, Padfoot. It looks like she knows something about us. Obviously she knows something already. No one would know that unless, they knew one of us personally." Hermione could have sworn she saw a wink in the sideways glance James gave Sirius.

"Sirius here is twenty-one and Lily Evans is my wife." Sirius gave a little huff of exasperation, but the smile never left his face. Hermione straightened rigidly and cocked an eyebrow.

"So you're from 1983? I don't believe you." She said with complete confidence, knowing full well that these beautiful smiles didn't survive past Halloween of Harry's first year in 1981. Sirius' eyes lit again in worry and he looked at his best mate.

Hermione huffed and clutched her head tiredly. After a moment, Hermione spouted the most glorious lie she could dream up in a moment's time."It's 1988 right now, and I've read about you three in the papers." She looks at them once more and sighs.

"I'm the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher here at Hogwarts and I am also the Head of Gryffindor." James gives her a once over and urges her to continue. Hermione finds herself rolling her eyes, as if it was Harry himself making that quizzical expression at her. "My name is Hermione Granger. For obvious reasons I can't tell you much more. And if you know what's good for you and your future, you won't let this get out. I'm the youngest professor ever to teach at Hogwarts." Sirius smiled, then Hermione leaned against her bedpost for support. "So tell me, what are you roaming about in your future for?" James ruffles his hair lightly and smiles.

"We're looking for a potion for our friend." Sirius rolls his eyes at him and copies Hermione's lean against the wall behind him.

Hermione lets the thought sink in for a bit and she realizes what they must mean. "Is this for Mr. Lupin?" James looks a little sick when Hermione hits it head on and she suspects James meant to lie his way out of that one, maybe thought about telling her he needed an enlargement potion for Wormtail. Hermione smiles evenly and nods at them. "You're looking for a cure to his lycanthropy?" Sirius looked almost insulted then, and practically exploded with protectiveness.

"How do you know this? Remus would never tell anyone. Are you working for You-Know-Who or what? Prongs, you can't be swallowing this. Why would Moony ever be…" Hermione put her hand up to quiet them. Slowly she went to her armoire drawer and pulled out a photo album. She looked through her album as the boys slowly started to gain on her, she held them back.

"If you see yourselves then it'll all be over." They didn't need to know that that wasn't the exact truth about timeturners. They seemed to weigh their options and stood back as she searched through the album and quickly procured a moving picture of Remus at what she recognized as the Black dining room with his left arm around Hermione and his right around Kingsley in an awkward paired photo. He was smiling, but obviously tipsy. Although he didn't look as young in the picture, she wouldn't put it past them to think that was what pushing thirty looked like. Sirius pulled the photo quickly from her grasp and stared. Remus went from shaking his head lightly to beaming in his hands and James' eyes widened as he looked over his friend's shoulder.

"What? Moony's looking a little rough around the edges there, but that's him all right." Sirius looked at the surroundings in the picture and looked a little more putout. "How did you?" He broke into a solid smile and handed the photo back to Hermione. Crossing his arms fully convinced.

"I don't know, but if Remus is _there_ and he looks happy, no need to question miracles." He nudged James a bit with his elbow, who seemed to be smiling too widely to think clearly. "Prongs, what do you think mate?" James reeled himself back in and cleared his throat.

"I think we can trust, er, Hermione?" She shut the album crisply and put it away. She pulled another book off the shelf and tapped a page of its script and tapped it onto a clear bit of parchment on her desk. The Wolfsbane potion copied perfectly and she folded it until it was small enough to put into hiding on her person. The boys were watching intently but didn't comment.

"Right, well if you want to get your potion for your friend then you'll have to stay right here while I go and sneak past the potion's master and the auror that is visiting him." It was James that spoke up.

"Whoa! What do you think we're going to do, just sit here and look pretty? We've known you for all but two seconds. You tell us that you're involved with Remus and that you're just going to sneak past Slughorn in the basement?" Leave it to James to assume so much.

"James, we can't risk you seeing things about yourself you just can't know. Slughorn retired and we have a new Potions Master now. Someone you definitely shouldn't know about." Sirius and James looked all the more intrigued. It was obvious that she had said the wrong thing by telling things they shouldn't see while they're there.

"Please, don't be difficult about this. Surely Lily told you all about how using timeturners can really screw with the future and events." That did it. James looked at Sirius and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"Obviously I can't spoil my future, knowing that _Lily_ will be cross with me." Sirius rolled his eyes and handed Hermione the invisibility cloak after she eyed it boldly. She walked quickly down the hallway after locking the two boys in. It wouldn't change much if Remus didn't change a couple times before the Wolfsbane potion had been created. She would just have to warn them against trying to make it themselves.

She silently 'alohomora-ed' the door to Draco's sitting room and crossed her arms uncomfortably as she made her way past a firmly shut bed chamber emitting noises she did not want to think about. The fire in the grate was just embers now, but it was enough to allow her to see her feet as she made it to the private storage. She let out a breath as she reached for an already prepared potion on the top shelf. Thank goodness for the little things. She didn't want to have to make the whole potion from scratch, especially with those boys in her room having free rein over her pictures and such. Hermione knew she would be guilty of wanting to know what she shouldn't. She crept back through the sitting room, the place even dimmer than it was.

She wordlessly conjured a 'lumos' and quickly made it to the door, just as the door to the bedchambers started to open. Hermione was out the door and down the hallway quickly. Even with the invisibility cloak on, she knew she wasn't exactly safe. Harry would want to know what was going on and she didn't want him asking questions about his father and godfather in her room. She unlocked her door and hurried in.

She handed the cloak back to Sirius after securing her door behind her. He took it and slung it over his arm. James took the tiny potion and pocketed it. "Well thanks Hermione, now we'll be going. He took the timeturner off of her before she had really thought it through and Sirius was shrinking the book that had the potion's ingredients in it and putting it into his pocket. She stepped forward and knocked the necklace out of his hand without thinking, but it was too late.

* * *

All three of them were spinning, and the necklace fell to the floor with the sound of broken glass in the same room they had been standing in, only it was furnished differently. She didn't bother looking around, they must have been transported to their target. Hermione Granger was stranded back in 1978 in her night robe with two delinquents who were stunned standing there, staring at her. She took out her wand quickly and obliviated them. Memory spells were not her forte but she was sure that she had obliviated the Marauders far enough to know who she was but not what they had. As they lie on the floor, she removed the miniature book and pocketed them into her robes as well as the broken timeturner bits. As they woke, she pointed her wand at them and rolled her eyes. "You boys shouldn't be traveling if you can't even land on your feet. Now I've given you your potion for Remus. I'm stuck here because of your tomfoolery. I'm going to have to see Dumbledore. You two are going to escort me to him and then return to your rooms."

Sirius sat up and held his head. "Why do we have to do that, Hermione? You aren't our teacher." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"It is your bloody fault I'm stuck here and I'm going to have to stay here while I try to find a way back, so own up to your mistakes and take me to see Dumbledore." Hermione explained simply as she brushed off her robes from imaginary dust. James stood and they looked at each other.

"Right. Well, you know your way Hermione. We've got places to be." They said quickly and ran out. Hermione crossed her arms, and when they left her, she smiled. They really could pass for Ron and Harry, it's not like they wanted to get caught in the castle at this time anyway.

She let herself out into the hallway as the door disappeared behind her. They_ would _use the room of requirement for shenanigans. She didn't really want them there when she had to explain herself to Dumbledore anyhow. She was somewhere on the second floor and she abruptly started toward his office. When she got there, she notices the pinks and purples of sunrise were peeking through the stained glass and narrow windows. Staring up at the statue of the avian, she started saying every sweet she could think of. After ten minutes of trying, the staircase was revealed by 'ginger snaps.' Hermione felt suddenly very uncomfortable letting herself into his office unannounced, but there he was looking as regal and gentle as ever, behind his desk in his night cap. Hermione opened the door hesitantly and he stood. "I'm so sorry Professor Dumbledore. It is completely inappropriate to barge in here unannounced, but I felt it best to make you known of my presence as soon as possible. My name is Hermione Granger and I'm from the future by twenty-two years." Dumbledore blinked and slid out the chair opposite his desk, offering a seat. Hermione trudged forward, trying not to let the flips of her stomach get to her. Dumbledore was a wonderful man to believe nonsense like this. He was a wonderful man from her time too, even as the most loved portrait in Hogwarts. She had a sudden inkling for Harry to be here. He would appreciate this man sitting here more than her, if possible.

"Well Miss Granger. To what do we owe the honor of this wrinkle in time?" He asked, his eyes twinkling, not unlike a glass of champagne in the light, she could do with one about now. Hermione crossed the room and took the offered seat.

"It is quite by accident that I've ended up here, Professor. I am actually the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher here, or there. I woke up in the middle of the night to find Sirius Black and James Potter hanging over me." A sudden pang of guilt filled her as she ratted them out, but she was a teacher herself and things were to be laid out in the open. Would Harry disapprove?

"They had apparently been doing some time traveling themselves. They were after my time-turner when they broke theirs, but I didn't quite catch on until it was too late. Now I am here with my broken one." Dumbledore chuckled, not unlike those old sweet gentlemen that her mum worked on back in the dentist's office. He opened his right drawer and stood slowly.

"Well, Miss Granger. It seems to me the truth has come out. The time-turner that I keep for myself has gone, which fits perfectly with your story. I shall have a talk with those boys and they shall be firmly punished. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to fix all this, because the time-turner that I had was a prototype still. It was offered to me by a friend of mine and it may indeed be unique. Perhaps, I can offer you a place to stay while we come up with something? Do you have the pieces still?" Dumbledore asked withdrawing a bag from his robes, while Fawkes screeched indignantly from across the room. Hermione was quiet, watching Dumbledore feed his bird. His words washing over her like a bitter poison. So she was to be stranded here?

"Is there any way you could arrange an appointment with your friend?"She settled her eyes on the large glass windows letting in the eastern exposure.

"I wish that was possible Miss Granger, but my friend has disappeared. He may show up any time, but until then I am afraid you are stuck with us." Hermione fingered the pieces of the broken turner in her night robes, as Dumbledore took his seat once more. She sat up a little straighter as the complexity of her situation settled on her shoulders.

"Right. Well, I can do my best to try and fix it myself with what I have until they get back. Can I be of any service to you until I complete my task?" Dumbledore eyed her carefully and crossed his knuckles over each other. In all sense of propriety, Hermione felt herself cross her feet at the ankles at Dumbledore's gesture. It seemed to her that Dumbledore was ready to propose something to her, and of course she was about to take it. Even if it was just an errant thought to have a choice in the matter, she really didn't. After all, she had offered.

"You said before that you have a job at Hogwarts teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. My current Professor, Mr. Quirrell has gone on a sabbatical for his mental health quite suddenly and I was wondering if you would be interested in taking his place until the end of the year?" Hermione took in a sharp breath. This sabbatical of his most certainly could not be the very same where he took Voldemort in under his wing. There must be a time when Quirrell meets him in the flesh though, she figured. She felt a little sick then, as if she was assisting in some heinous crime.

"That would suit me quite well." Hermione blurted out before she lost her words completely. Dumbledore clapped his hands together with a sense of joyous finality.

"Of course, you know the rules and regulations already then. Was I the one to hire you?" Dumbledore was naturally inquisitive it seemed and Hermione has to remind herself not to produce the next answer simply.

"You did not Professor, but Minerva did. I do know you agreed with her choice though." She tried to not focus too much on that happy day in the Headmistress' office, with Dumbledore and Snape mounted on the wall as her interview went on.

Minerva was going over the regulations when Dumbledore's portrait chuckled lightly and said,"You know Minerva, that our dear Hermione has these memorized. Hogwarts would be honored to have the likes of her teaching the children." Snape simply crossed his arms as if the whole of the conversation was insufferable in the first place, his eyes giving away the amused glimmer that in life she had never had the honor of seeing.

"So it is decided then that you will be expected to start on Monday. For now, I will advance your paycheck to you so that you may fetch some more suitable clothing. Minerva will help you become accustomed to the lesson plans that are in place for the classes. And, if you don't mind me asking my dear, but what house were you in when you attended Hogwarts?" Hermione stood, as did he.

"Gryffindor, sir. No house is greater than the other, but Gryffindor is where I've always fit best." Dumbledore gave her a small smile and opened another drawer. He withdrew a leather pouch and handed it to her carefully.

"Splendid, my dear. I hope you and Minerva do get on well. There is a suitable set of rooms next to the Prefect's bath. Please make yourself at home. I will have Argus place a set of teaching robes there for you, so that you have something to go to town in." Hermione let out a sigh she didn't know she had been holding. Dumbledore must have always been this agreeable.

"Thank you Profess-"

"Albus. Call me Albus, I am sure you have that liberty there as well." He interjected showing her to the door. "If you need anything, I am sure Minerva will be of assistance to you and I will let you know if I should hear from my friend. Hermione, I am very sorry to hear that you ended up in this place, but I do hope you'll make the best of it." The Professor paused a moment, closing the door once more. "I am sure you do not need reminding that you should tamper as little as possible with events, even if they are incredibly enticing? Being twenty-four years in the past is very dangerous. Even the littlest word may change the future."

"Of course, Albus. I will do my best. Thank you." He opened the door once more for her and she was down the hallway and by the Prefect's bathroom before she had really registered her footsteps. There were three or four doors that she questioned to be the one Albus must have been talking about, but only one swung open on its hinges, almost mechanically. Hermione laughed at herself. It was funny to imagine mechanics in the magical world. It was just about as funny as imagining magic in the muggle world. As she passed through the doorway and the door closed quietly behind her, she fell quiet. With all the hominess of the red duvet on her four-poster, along with the stain-glass window that looked almost like it could be shared with the Prefect's bathroom altogether, Hermione could not find the strength to accept this as home.

Hogwarts would always be special, but as she sat in her night-robe on the freshly made bed and looked at the bare desk, she felt incredibly homesick. Draco would not come banging on her sitting room door, looking harassed after a particularly trying class with a cuppa in tow. Harry would not send her short notes by owl on random mornings as she was enjoying her orange juice in the Great Hall. But as she let herself lie back with a light bounce to her shoulders on the bed, she knew she had gone mad. Virginia Greengrass would not ask vapid questions intermittently throughout lecture. With a humph! the youngest Greengrass would have been proud of, Hermione rolled over half-hanging off her bed and tried to recapture those four hours of sleep.


	2. Circa 1978

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: A big thanks to my beta, Jessica! She mentioned concern that the easy relationship between Remus and Hermione is progressing to quickly. Do not fret, things are never that easy. I would love to hear from readers about what I have here. The next chapter is already being beta'd, so check back.

* * *

When Hermione woke up again, the Sun was blazing through the mermaid stained-glass window with such intensity, she was sure it was afternoon. Hermione cast a tempus and took a deep breath. The bright letters and numbers came with a wave and disappeared a second later, 'Saturday, March 9th, 1978. 13:07.' Hermione found a set of teaching robes in her closet and hurried off to the bathroom, her head swirling with the complete knowledge of what happens so very soon. Harry would want to prevent it from happening, but then again Harry would want to see the end of Voldemort as well. Yes, it would be best to change as little as possible. Yet her resolve hurt a little as she looked over the porcelain tub that must have been sisters with the much grander Prefect's bath. She would have to be two dimensional. Hermione would have to play a two dimensional teacher, so to best not be caught up in the emotions of that mess the Marauders toted along with them. The hardest thing she was sure, would be looking in the face of Peter Pettigrew and not screaming to high heavens about being a filthy piece of dung. She washed absent-mindedly thinking about how her information on Horcruxes and alliances would be received. Hermione dunked her head underwater, half expecting some mermaid to sing a clue to her about her predicament. It had worked for Harry. No, the bath held no secrets that she could see; just that night-blooming jasmine scent Draco might have swiped from her if he had known. Hermione let out another deep sigh. She needed to stop thinking about them if she was going to be here for a while. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, right? Harry loved to spout that when joking with Hermione about playing Wizard's Chess with him and losing terribly. Seriously, she needed to stop thinking about her unborn best friends just for a bit, it was going to make her sick.

Homesickness felt like that nausea Hermione often felt before going into very important exams. The nausea was submerged in a terrible fear. Hermione ached for her friends already and she hadn't been gone seven hours. If she was some place at the wrong time. What if she broke up the wrong fight? What if she wasn't harsh enough on a student? Hermione paused. She let her hair get wet all the way to the crown of her head, staring into the crux of the ceiling. She felt her eyes widen with understanding. Of course, she had been meant to come here all along? She sat up straight and reached for some soap. This means she could be herself. As long as she didn't reveal any information, her future would be attached.

When Hermione had dried off and primped herself for the day it was too late for lunch, but with the purse Dumbledore had given her she was not so worried. The weakness in her stomach had settled considerably and she was ready to try and make the most of what she was given. She pushed up the sleeves of her oxford button-down and black trousers that she found in her closet. With all honesty the slacks were the itchiest thing she has ever worn aside from the blue Weasley sweater received the year she had dated Ron after the war. If there was one thing to be thankful for, Hermione didn't have to wear that bloody thing ever again. Oh yes, she was grateful of course. Molly really wanted her to feel a part of the family, but now she could love that family without needing to be attached to one of them. Hermione thrust her hands into robes after making sure the white collar stayed underneath the black robes, trying to refrain from itching her thighs the entire journey. As she rounded the first flight of stairs with a fire under her arse to get to the gates and apparate, she collided full on with a taller man, making a terrible confusion of robes, itching, and sandy hair on the marble steps. "Sorry…erm…do you go here?" Hermione righted herself from their stomach to stomach position with the man and yanked her foot out of the banister, before having it snapped by the movement of another staircase. Happy to have her foot still, she embraced her knee for a moment before looking up at the man who was now standing fully and brushing himself off.

"I'm the substitute professor for Defense Against class. I'm Hermione Granger and you are…" Hermione allowed him to help her to her feet and she knew instantly who this was and as he offered his name she finished for him, "Remus Lupin." He looked confused for a beat, but smiled.

"Have we met Professor?" He asked courteously, she thought he was a terrible fabricator.

"I know Mr. Potter and Mr. Black would have filled you in by now." Remus for his benefit offered his hand and she shook his. He really was much more fit than she expected him to be. She remembered when she first met him, he looked so tired and worn out. Before her, he was all tall and a little too thin. His hazel eyes were a lot greener than she had ever seen them and he had significantly less scars than she remembered.

"They also said you were pretty brilliant sounding." He added, still looking confused at the face boring into him. "Right, well…" He straightened his Prefect badge and handed Hermione a letter. Her eyes left his face and took the piece of parchment from his hand. As she unrolled it, she felt him looking over her as well. It was not exceedingly uncomfortable, but she did know she was no Cho Chang. She instead focused on the document from Dumbledore, her leg itchy and achy quite suddenly. "He said for me to tell you that I am to accompany you to Hogsmeade today, in place of Professor McGonagall, as she is indisposed today. I don't know what the letter is though." Hermione read the letter and folded it before placing in her pocket. Remus met her eyes when she looked up again.

Hermione continued along down the staircase now with a curious Remus in tow. He crossed his arms as he followed her, his eyes boring a hole in her pockets. "Remus…Lupin. Are you familiar with any muggle writings?" He looked at her with speculation before nodding. They made quick work of the front door of the Great Hall before she gave an answer. "Well you see, Mister…Lupin. There is this book called _The Great Gatsby_ by an American writer." Lupin nodded as they crossed the lawn, getting glances as they went. Hermione was the new person after all. "Well in this story Gatsby's younger life is shrouded in mystery until all comes out in the end." She caught a look at his features and she knew he knew what she was talking about, which really surprised her to be honest. She didn't know much about Lupin, but she had always assumed him a pureblood. Now that she thought about it of course, Hermione should have paid better attention to the facts. He was changed young, so it would have been quite unlikely for a muggleborn to have been susceptible to areas where there were weres. Just the same if he had been pureblooded, he would not have been likely to know at all what she talking about. It all must mean he was a half-blood.

"Professor?" Hermione went red. She really did think too much sometimes.

"Sorry?" Hermione offered. They had made it across half the field already. In front of them were the three marauders, all lying under the tree Harry had told her about. He waved at them and Hermione caught herself from waving as well. They were just so damn likeable. She had to remember that these four were the biggest troublemakers the school had ever seen and she wouldn't put it past them to pull a few over her before they went. Peter Pettigrew hurried over to Hermione and offered his hand. She shook it lightly and Sirius made an exaggerated gesture to James of wiping his nose. 'Brown-noser.' She internally rolled her eyes. They were still just boys those two. There was no knowing if Pettigrew's innocence had been gone yet. She felt Remus on the left of her, knowing that he wanted to stop and stay with them. Perhaps, he always did. He had been forced to grow up because of his lycanthropy, but maybe he had always been looking to stay with the Marauders, as if he were Wendy and they were two infamous Peter Pans. She felt a new sense of sympathy then and she decided she'd give him the answer to his question earlier.

"MR. POTTER AND !" She yelled half-heartedly. Peter had turned to look at them too, as they took their sweet time, sauntering over to expectant form. The expression on Peter's face was of loathing, maybe jealousy.

"Yes, Hermione?" Sirius said boldly, his eyes half-lidded as he administered his best come-hither look at her.

"I take it the Headmaster has already spoken with you, so I expect you to be in my classroom tomorrow evening to help me set up for Monday." James rolled his eyes and looked away fully from her face to another part of the field. It must be Lily.

"Of course, Professor." James remarked dismissively. Peter was looking at Lily too. Hermione told herself not to look at Harry's mother, but rather to round on Sirius who was giving her the once over now. She folded her arms.

"Mr. Black." His eyes snapped to her face and she saw Remus crossing his arms out of disgust, probably paired with an eye roll at Sirius' display.

'"Sirius.' After all, I've dated witches older than you, Hermione." Hermione felt her ego balloon as she fought to be offended over him treating her with such little respect.

"Mr. Black. You will treat me with respect and call me Professor while I am your teacher here at Hogwarts. Ten points from Gryffindor." Hermione said curtly. Remus cleared his throat and the two other boys snapped their heads back in place.

"Understood, Hermione, I mean Professor." Sirius flirted unrelentingly. He was fit enough, probably to make even McGonagall swoon. She turned away from the three as Lily joined the party.

"Hey Lils." James said kissing her cheek and Lily batted at him lightly. Lily looked at Hermione's retreating figure alongside Remus instead.

"Are you the new Dark Arts professor?" Lily asked and James answered her with something Hermione couldn't quite make out. "Oh, Sirius. We're lucky Gryffindor can't go into negative with all your stupid comments." Lily said loudly. Hermione delved her hands back into her pockets to keep from laughing. After she had contained herself, she spied a Thestral-drawn cart at the gate, just a little ways off now. She wanted to ask if he could see them, but that would be improper to say the least. Instead, when they reached the cart, she pet the horrendous thing for a second before she got in. Remus followed in behind, making a face that answered her question. She wished she hadn't asked then, because it just fuelled more questions she couldn't ask. As he sat opposite her in the cart, Hermione ashamedly admired him out of the corner of her eye as she looked out of the carriage at the greenery she was accustomed to in mid-spring. He was settled into staring at her curiously, not ashamed in the slightest. It was young men's prerogative to stare at young women she guessed. The whole scene complete with the countryside, made her feel like a Jane Austen book, but things were far more complicated of course.

"Professor?" Hermione turned to him and he leaned forward a little, he wanted to know something.

"Yes, Lupin?" She replied, trying to sound as if she was not enthused in breaking the silence.

"My mates, they told me you know me from the future. Can you tell me-"Hermione put up her hand to stop him, matching it with a sympathetic smile.

"Wish I could tell you, Remus," She blinked a bit at her impropriety and corrected it. "Er…Lupin, but you know I cannot." Threading her fingers in her lap thoughtfully.

"Thought I would try." He sounded defeated, but she knew he wasn't giving up when he asked again. "They said I looked happy in this picture with you." Hermione was about to stop him from what he said next but she found she could not. "And that is nice to know. If you won't tell me how I know you, that's fine. It is just nice to know that I'll be happy when I'm older. Hell, I get older period. You know I never thought I'd even graduate with my…condition." The words came strangled, but Hermione understood what he meant. The carriage stopped abruptly and Remus filed out, holding the door for her. Her hand graced his on the handle and her stomach was all uppity again, but more pleasantly so now." Her reaction was to look away, but she found he looked more embarrassed than she felt. The carriage left them and she led the way down the main street of Hogsmeade. It was humid out today and they must have had rain recently, the street was pretty muddy. The ugly Wellingtons she found in her closet were lucky to say the least. She would have to get some clothes tailored, shoes, and lunch. She turned to Remus who was looking off toward the direction of Honeydukes. "Remus…Lupin. Why don't you gather my parchment, quills, ink bottles, and the books on this list and we'll meet for dinner at the Three Broomsticks 'round five." She pulled out a fair amount of galleons, as well as the list that Dumbledore had prepared and added a few more things to the books with a charm from her wand. He took the list with a very respectful nod and took off toward the supply end of the town. She looked at the younger looking robe shop, not far off and then headed into Honeydukes instead, for a quick tide over until supper.

* * *

She was running late for supper at the Three Broomsticks by at least fifteen minutes. She was toting her trunk along behind her, filled halfway with her casuals, robes, and some other things that she had forgot to ask Remus for. As she made her way into the place, a young male host took her things and placed them out of sight. She felt better at least physically to be free of her itchy trousers and have replaced it with a flowered skirt that looked awfully like the one her Mum wore in her old annual. The oxford shirt looked okay tucked into the high waist. The school robes that she had been given were tailored along with the others and it was all a better fit now. She nearly laughed when she asked to be shown what was in fashion by the witch helping her out and was accosted with clothes that were popular from where she was from. Fashion really does repeat itself. She felt bad for keeping Remus waiting even if she felt more comfortable. He was waiting at a table in the most well-lit part of the room and although he was charming, he looked very out of place with all the old riff-raff that were piled in on a student-free weekend. He waved her down, as if she couldn't pick him out of a crowd by now. She hadn't noticed the angry looking scar next to his ear before, but in the light it was more obvious than ever.

She took the chair next to him at the rickety table, as the other two had been taken up already for a different party. He pushed a mug of butterbeer toward her and she smiled at him. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Re-Lupin." He chuckled light-heartedly. "You know you can call me 'Remus' if you want, if you're so accustomed to it." He took a big swig of his own glass as she regarded her own.

"You may call me 'Hermione' when we aren't around the school as well." He nodded and a young Rosmerta brought two plates of fish and chips to the table and winked at him.

"Sorry, I ordered for you. It has been packed for a while, so I didn't want to miss the opportunity to put in the order. Hope this is fine?" He poured vinegar and salt across his and ate at them a little faster than expected. She cut into her fish with a fork and tried to not eat as quickly as she wanted to. When he finished just a few minutes later, before she had even finished her first piece of fish, she shouldn't have been surprised. He allowed her to eat for a few minutes longer, occupied with trying to procure a refill, and then after he tucked into half his cup, he regarded her carefully. His face was a little red with the warmth that she knew was from all the butterbeer and food he had practically inhaled, but he seemed to drink her in as well. She promptly squashed that thought as it bubbled. He was a student.

"They aren't so bad you know." Remus said as Hermione tucked into a couple more chips. "The mates I mean. James, Sirius, and Pete."

Hermione laughed. "You're worried I'll be hard on them?" She took another bite and took a quick follow up of butterbeer afterword. The chip had been especially vinegary. Remus coughed lightly and it sounded more of a laugh actually.

"I don't think you'll be hard on them, but maybe the other way around. They are mostly over it now. Sometimes they let their need to be the best get the best of them. Lily is good for that equation though. She is a lot more level-headed than James and Sirius could ever boast together." Hermione ran a thumb over her glass mug thoughtfully and smiled at him.

"You make it sound as if you aren't in that gang." He crossed his arms and leaned back on the back two legs with ease, and then he leaned forward properly a moment later.

"That is the thing isn't it? Since I got Prefect, I told them I couldn't be involved with those pranks of theirs. James doesn't seem to understand that with his Head Boy role he may have to lift a finger every now and then. I asked them not to let me catch them. At the same time, I've seen less of them this year than the last six put together. It is like I've been shunned or something. I wish Dumbledore didn't choose me for this." Remus was fixated on his mug, his eyes glossed over in thought. Hermione tried not to think about how good brooding looked on him. She realized her ears were very warm and looked away. How entirely inappropriate it was to even think he was attractive? Two dimensional Hermione was failing already. The rim of her glass gave of a light ring and she stopped instantly.

"In school, I was a prefect and Head Girl too." She offered and he looked up and studied her face, as if to fish an explanation out of her statement. "My two best mates, Harold and Ronnie, they really were pretty terrible. They were always getting into trouble and I was always the one they looked to to get them out of it. It isn't like I didn't enjoy it at some points. After all, it was for a good cause, but in the end I always stood up for them because they were the first two who stood up for me and I'm sure they will be the very last too." Hermione realized then why she found Remus so very attractive. He was a kindred spirit. She could always tell that of course, he was a professor and she got on better with them than her own classmates some times. Over the years since the War, Hermione had been bombarded with 'Save the Insert Magical Creature Here' requests time and again. She accepted to endorse at least sixty percent of them, because she liked to try and fix things. She liked to help the less fortunate. But, she realized why she always felt that easy sort of companionship with Remus now. She downed the rest of the Butterbeer and wished for the first time since she found Ron cheating that it had been Firewhiskey instead. Remus Lupin was perfect dating material, except for completely wrong. She was a professor and he was a student. She was twenty-two years in the past. He was gone in the future and she was completely mental to be even thinking these things. Suppressing the urge to slide her chair from the table and make off toward less awkward ground, she settled for pushing the plate aside instead. There it was that pain in her stomach again, making its' reoccurrence like a temperamental boggart. It was all twists and nausea like this morning, along with that slightly dizzying effect of butterflies she had had briefly when stomach to stomach with Remus this afternoon. Oh, this is bad. She seemed to have noticed Remus more acutely then, apparently having missed the entirety of his reply.

"Hermione? Did you hear me?" Hermione shook her head and muttered her apologies and he put his hands behind his head and lounged once more. "I said, 'that's why you seemed to take their personality in stride.' Honestly, even Sprout goes a bit mad if they even so much as sit next to each other. It always spells catastrophe I reckon." Hermione found herself smiling, although her stomach was still swirling.

"I can't really speak for James, but aside from Sirius being as bold as ever he really cools down." Hermione grimaced slightly; Azcaban would do that to anyone. Remus seemed to like this new turn to the conversation and pounced on it instantly.

"So they're happy then too? It is good to know they all end up well." Hermione stood then. Despite the slosh it gave to her uneasy stomach, she pulled out a few galleons and placed it on the table. She strode to the return and the same host returned her things to her and Remus picked up the remainder. His face was accosted with regret. "I'm sorry Hermione. I really hadn't meant to pry. Hermione whipped around to correct him and then her words were lost. They were standing in the pouring rain and she stepped back underneath the eaves of the pub.

"I'm not upset, I'm sure I would be interested in knowing how my future is too, it is just that I cannot answer your questions when I really want to." Remus put the roll of parchment under his cloak and grabbed her shoulder with his hand.

"You don't understand Remus." The carriage pulled up next to them as he turned her to face him.

"Now, I don't like the sound of that." He said grinning at her. Apparently he was trying to the lighten the conversation for her sake.

"That is the problem isn't it? If I tell you things now, there are several positive things that just may not happen. I would do my very best to avoid that." Remus nodded as he helped her in. It was moment before he appeared. He had put her things on the back of the carriage. He somehow had a different air about him then. She assumed maybe he would try to conserve the future too. Maybe he had his own dreams and if he had hope for them, far be it from her to crush them. The cruel reality would crush her every time she would have Evans, Black, and Potter in her class from now on, she was sure of it. But what she did know once more than that, would be that if she didn't stop dangling the idea of Remus Lupin in from of her quite soon, he would be the hardest on her conscience. Both to let go of and to leave in every sense of the word.

They made it to the castle in one piece, the crescent moon, a sign of his momentary freedom. She was sure by the relieved look on his face that he was thinking about the same. It occurred to her as she watched him walk past her rooms and toward the Gryffindor Tower, that that was probably his biggest question of all. That would certainly be her biggest question if she had lycanthropy. She could even imagine it bubbling from his mouth, so quickly she wouldn't be able to produce a proper reply. Yes, 'How did you find out about my lycanthropy, would be number one.' Hermione was puzzled as she watched Remus' retreating back turn a swift corner. She didn't have answer now, but she was certain that she would be ready for it when it did come.


	3. Getting Settled

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: Thank you to those few reviews I have received and all of those story alerts and author adds. It is really appreciated. Thanks to my beta, Jess! If you want to keep this coming, I would love to hear some more reviews. It keeps me enthused.

* * *

It was a couple of days before Hermione saw him again, which she was secretly thankful for. Remus Lupin was the biggest hole to her well thought out plan, and she hadn't even really gotten to know him yet. He was the type of guy that Hermione felt she was never going to be susceptible to. Some of the Gryffindor girls from her year used to call Cedric Diggory a god. However sacrilegious that sounded, Hermione took to calling him the 'butterfly bloke' in her head, because girls would always complain of stomachaches when they had to sit next to his grace in class. She never saw that in Ron, or Viktor Krum. Even Ron Weasley could not give her butterflies like Remus Lupin, who was standing at her door with Sirius and James behind him. Ron had always been there. He had always been a convenient sort of person. She had lost her virginity to him, but she found no pleasure in that fact. For one thing she was certain; there was absolutely no chemistry between Ron and her. It was strange how she could think about that now, after having been in a relationship with him until she was twenty. She even remembered being so winded when she found him cheating on her with Lavender.

"Professor Granger?" Remus repeated, but it was Sirius who waved his hand in front of her face. Hermione flushed and rubbed the back of her neck, as if she had been found out. The three young men were standing in front of her desk, looking amused at her dazed expression.

"I'm sorry boys; I didn't think you would be so punctual. Especially after I told you two that you could finish your homework for Slughorn before coming up here." Remus walked himself back to the threshold of the door as James and Sirius filed into the classroom and toward the front-most desks.

"That is probably 'cause Remus here couldn't wait to see you, Her- Professor Granger." Hermione tried not to look at him as Sirius said the little jest, but she could see out of the corner of her eye. Remus had reddened considerably and looked extremely vexed at his mates.

"Actually, it is because these two were planning on putting it off until so late that you wouldn't take them anymore, and were instead planning something with Peeves in the dungeon corridor." Remus said as an aside." James laughed and undid his tie as if he was in some sort of hot water.

"Moony, stop trying to get a gold star from Professor Granger here; it will clash with your Head Boy badge." Hermione swallowed her laugh and held up her hand to ask for silence.

"Thank you Mr. Lupin, for your consideration. I will be avoiding the dungeon corridors this evening. Mr. Black will show a little more respect for the Head Boy, and be happy that I don't take points away for the plot that you and Mr. Potter may or may not have finished for the poor little Slytherins this evening." Hermione went around her desk, her fine dark blue robes swishing regally as she went. Hermione replaced her reading glasses and then looked over them, at Remus, who was looking rather smug in the doorway. "Will you be able to escort these two back to the dormitory at ten-thirty this evening?"

Remus nodded and gave a little look to his two mates, "Of course I will. If not me, then the Head Girl will be able to." Hermione gave him a small smile, followed by another stern look at her two students who were rolling their eyes.

"Perhaps Lily Evans would be best to escort them to their rooms…" James' face erupted into a huge smile and he elbowed Sirius, who was looking smug as well. "Yes, please ask Miss Evans to come and have her take these two to derail the traps that are set downstairs. That way you may have the evening off when your patrol shift is finished." Sirius gave a loud huff as if he was terribly unhappy with the whole idea, and even James' face was less than one-hundred watts.

"Yes, Professor Granger. I am sure Lily won't mind." Remus' face was completely professional as he closed the door behind him. She heard his retreating steps down the corridor and Hermione felt safe again, as she became much less personal to the three of them. The remaining Marauders were eyeing her carefully.

"Right! Mr. Black and Mr. Potter, you will be tidying up the classroom this evening and prepare the room for the sixth and seventh year classes tomorrow morning. You will be learning about the Unforgiveables tomorrow." Hermione inwardly grimaced. Why did she have to be blessed with having this as her first lesson as a substitute? She handed them a list of things that would need to be put in place. The boys looked extremely interested all of a sudden. Perhaps the idea of how she would be teaching the darkest of the spells in the known world had sparked their interests. They didn't complain as they set to work on the list. After making sure that they understood the gist of what she needed done, Hermione returned to the task at hand. On her desk, lay the fractured time-turner. She had made little progress with the golden tool, but she was determined to have something to show Dumbledore's friend when she finally had an audience with him. She needed to get out of here sooner rather than later, because there was way too many things she could be buggering up. Just when she thought she had gotten rid of the anxiety in her stomach, the pleasant butterflies of Remus were replaced with that uncomfortable idea of ruining the future for good. For goodness sake, this may be the evening that James proposes to Lily or something. Hermione looked up from her work and eyed the quiet room suspiciously. James was handing Sirius book after book from the top shelf, his face free of the fear that asking his lady love to be might bring. Satisfied, Hermione looked back down to the fragile turner in her hands. She clicked another piece into place and gave it a solid 'reparo.' Hermione remembered when things were comfortable with Ron. She remembered thinking that it would be any day soon, that he would be dropping to one knee. There was one night in particular that set them into a very abrupt ending. It had been after a very short lover's spat. Ron said she wasn't even attempting to cook for him and in her earnest to be the good girlfriend, she was bloody going to try. Hermione rested her head in one hand, thinking about that horrific day.

* * *

Hermione apparated straight to the local muggle market right after class, a couple days shy of summer holiday. The open air market was bustling with muggles, and she was glad that she had remembered to leave her favorite lilac colored robes over her chair in the classroom. It would have been a sore thumb here. The vegetable stands were overflowing with fresh produce, but Hermione had already decided earlier that day exactly what she wanted to make him. She was going to make a simple angel-hair spaghetti with homemade red sauce. She collected the ingredients quickly, even going back for an extra sprig of basil. Basil was Ron's favorite herb and it would not go unnoticed. On the edge of the farmer's market, there was a row of small stores. Inspiration struck her as she went and purchased a couple glass votives for some peachy smelling candles she had at home.

Satisfied with the heavy bags she held in each arm, she disapparated with a bit of extra effort onto the doorway of their flat. Hermione noticed the door was not properly closed and so, happy with her luck she pushed through. With a smile plastered on her face with the idea of the evening that was sure to be memorable, she found herself frozen to the spot. Hermione half dropped, half threw the two heavy bags she had managed all the way home. The sight in front of her was truly one of the most painful things she had witnessed in her short life. Ron was there on the beige carpet of the staircase that led to her room, completely naked. He was covered in sweat and his ginger hair was plastered to his brow, his eyes wide and staring into Hermione's brown ones. He was covering Lavender's debauched form nonchalantly, yet their bodies were wrapped so completely, that it left nothing to Hermione's brilliant mind what they had been doing just moments before. Lavender smiled wickedly and pulled herself out of Ron's grasp, giving one smug look to Hermione over her shoulder as she walked up the stairs and disappeared into Hermione's room. She did so as completely naked as she was the day she was born. Hermione looked away from Ron as he stood too, quite unsure of himself at that moment. Hermione looked at the broken glass all over the front hall and Ron took a step toward her and paused. He stopped short of the mess that was on the ground and reached out for her and Hermione laughed. Of all things, she laughed. She laughed for the complete ridiculousness of the whole situation and Ron froze.

He offered a scared little, "'Mione," probably more for prosperity's sake and Hermione turned on her heel. She disapparated to Hogwarts' front gate a second later, feeling as if she had been shot. The laughing faded with the wind as she walked toward the front door; and Hermione, for all her knowledge, was struck dumb at the entire situation. So when she returned to her chambers she did the only thing that seemed to make sense. She cried. Hermione cried for hours and when she felt like she had done that enough, she fire-called Harry. Harry came through a second later and held her for a long time, before she could even explain to him what had happened. He looked as upset as she did for a moment, but later on he would say that he wasn't surprised and that Ron had been skipping out early from the Ministry for months now. Harry was always too oblivious to put two and two together, so she wouldn't blame him for this. He was patient with her tears, and he sat with her until they both fell asleep on her couch.

It was months before Ron attempted to talk to her again, but she figured as much. Harry said that Ron had even avoided talking to him for some time after, too. Ron married Lavender Brown in a quick ceremony five months after Hermione left. Hermione and Ron had started owling each other again four months after that, when Lavender's first child was born. Ron tried to smooth things over by naming Hermione and Harry little Rose's godparents. It worked to gain neutrality, but Hermione would never see him the same way again.

* * *

"Professor, are you homesick or something? You look like you're about to cry." Sirius asked seriously, suddenly right in front of her at her desk. She glanced at the clock, now with the small hand on the '10.' She straightened in her chair and looked at him soberly.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Black. Have you completely finished the list?" He nodded once, apparently emotional girls made him uncomfortable. He looked over at James and motioned for him to come with the list. Everything had been crossed off and Quirrell's room was looking in much better shape for tomorrow's lesson. Hermione balled up the parchment and threw it into the rubbish bin.

James put on his best smile and pushed a hand through his hair. "Prof, would it be okay if we skipped out early? It is Remus' eighteenth birthday tomorrow and we had something planned for him, now that he and Lils are occupied in the dungeons." Hermione didn't question the idea that she had played in the role of being a ploy without even knowing it. She smiled up at them and waved them out, but as they collected their things, she intercepted them at the door.

"Thank you, you two. Now, please be on your best behavior and do take care of the mess you've left in the dungeons before you fulfill all of Mr. Lupin's birthday wishes." Sirius laughed loudly and it had that same bark to it that made her heart ache.

James waved her off and Sirius took off down the hallway. He smiled at Sirius' retreating back and looked over at her quickly. "Don't worry Hermione, Lily knows the counter spell. She is just distracting him for a while. You're the best for letting us do this, bet you that er… Ronny and Harold of yours really miss you. Or did Remus say it was Harry and Ronald? Eh, you know who I mean, right?" She laughed in spite of herself and opened the door a bit wider for him. '"Harry?' That is a brilliant name, isn't it?" Hermione tried not to die from laughing as James ran down the hall after Sirius at top speed. Hermione's laugh settled and she glanced at her desk. Collecting the pieces of the time-turner and dousing the light, she made for her chambers. If she had just given James Harry's name, it meant maybe she was supposed to be here for a little longer, after all. There was a future right now that held Harry, Ron, and all of her friends worrying about her, but when she was finished she would make sure none of them had to worry at all.

* * *

It was the next morning as Hermione was hanging things in her closet and readying herself for her first official breakfast at the teacher's table that she found it. She hung her night robe on the hook from her bathroom door and she felt it. The picture of Kingsley, Remus, and herself was making the satin of the gown bunch weirdly, but when she pulled it out, she smiled. The three of them did look quite happy there. It was the best picture of Kingsley she had ever seen, second only to the Minister picture that she had seen of him the day he accepted his role as Minister. Remus looked pretty buzzed, as she had noticed before, but at least he was smiling. She guessed the picture was from her fifth year summer, or sixth year. Remus drank more after the loss of Sirius, and it was during sixth year that Tonks started seeing him. He looked better kept here too. He was wearing a fine blue shirt with some dark gray robes, that looked much better on him, than that tattered brown suit he wore the first time Hermione had met him. Hermione's eyes glanced critically over herself and she was relieved to find she looked okay in this picture as well. There was no sign of her bushy hair, which meant Molly had finally gotten around to doing some proper charms on her. Grinning Hermione was a rare thing to see in pictures, and it was even less likely that a person would find a pictured Hermione who looked good doing it. She was proud to have found such a good picture of the three of them and she pocketed it quickly when she heard a knock at her door.

Hermione threw on a set of black robes over a knee-length charcoal pencil skirt and a white blouse with some ruffle detail. She answered the door a split second later, not surprised to see Filius standing there at his full height. Although he came only to her hip, it was his icy blue eyes that really intimidated her at this particular moment in time. After a second, the mild look of curiosity mixed with calculation melted from his face as he offered his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Hermione. My name is Filius Flitwick. Well, you knew that, of course." She shook his hand daintily and followed him down the hallway, as soon as he motioned for her to follow him. "Albus sent an owl to all of us on Saturday to make us aware of your tiny situation, Hermione. I am sure you must be on pixies and sprites with all that pressure to do things just so. Well, since you have or will work here before or in the future, you know that Albus will introduce you. So come along, love." Flitwick chattered on about nothing in particular the rest of the way, as if he had known her his entire life. Some things never change. If a professor at Hogwarts ever wanted company, all they must do is sit down next to Flitwick and he'd regale you of his latest deduction.

She settled into the seat at the very end of the table, entering from the teacher's lounge off the Great Hall. The bustling room was suddenly eerily quiet, and then started up again with no warning. Hermione took several pieces of toast onto her plate, along with a healthy amount of marmalade. A second later, Dumbledore's robes fluttered past her shoulders, and she took it as her cue to stand. She was not let down when Dumbledore announced her presence. The Gryffindor table around the Marauders was especially rowdy. She took her seat a second later and tucked into her marmalade with a bit of toast. She spied Remus surrounded by friends and admirers. James and Sirius flanked him, as Remus would give an unceremonious tug to the golden crown that was apparently attached to his head every few moments. He was beaming, despite the obvious irritation with the crown. Hermione smiled into her cup at the spectacle as it unfolded. James, Sirius, and Peter did little bows every few moments. Maybe it was every time he raised his glass. Minerva McGonagall filled the empty seat next to her, for which she was decidedly thankful. She introduced herself and Hermione became decidedly distracted with the list that the older lady had taken the liberty of giving her. It was a list of untaught subjects for each year. Apparently Quirrell had often up and left them over the last three years that he started teaching here. He had some sort of "skin condition" that would not allow for him to travel during the summer.

"It is an outrageous fabrication, Hermione. He has been here for three years already and he never completes an entire school year. Albus says he can't be replaced so easily and always ends up teaching the end of the year himself. It will be nice to have someone covering for the remainder of the year. Yours may be the only guidance in the Dark Arts that some of these students have had for three days in a row." Hermione smiled politely at the Madam and folded the parchment to slip into her robes.

"I sense a bit of hostility with Mr. Quirrell, Minerva." Hermione joked. She knew that there never was a true bite from Minerva toward any of the professors.

"Oh, that man is quite frustrating! When he is here, he is perfectly upright. I completely trust Albus in his motives, of course. And with this war, who can you trust? Yes, it is best to keep close to home. I do wish I had the fortune of knowing what is going to happen next." Hermione looked at McGonagall with her most earnest face and crossed her arms, as if extremely uncomfortable.

"I think you mean that you wish you knew the future, and were able to change it. It is quite horrible knowing all of the little details and not being able to change one thing." Minerva looked taken aback, all sour-faced and rigid. She let out a huff and frowned.

"I suppose so, Hermione. Things are never as easy as they seem. You were a Gryffindor, yes?" Hermione nodded, relaxing into her seat once more.

"It is good to know that someone like us befell this fate. Dumbledore trusts you to keep things so that they stay favorable for our future. I wonder what it was that made him believe you." Minerva settled into her seat as well, her face still brightened with curiosity. Hermione realized as Minerva's gaze settled onto her face, that she was questioning her. Did she think that Hermione was some creative plot to bring down Hogwarts to the Dark Lord's feet? She knew she would have to say something to ensure Minerva's trust. Hermione removed her wand from her robes and wrote on the white tablecloth very lightly. Minerva watched the movement in pure interest. She wrote only one sentence on the table.

'_He hired Sybil because she told him a prophecy about Tom.' _

It was a limb Hermione was willing to go out on. She knew Dumbledore didn't tell her everything, but she figured with the closeness of those two women, she would know. Sybil was a couple of seats down, looking as dazed as ever. The ink disappeared a second later, as if nothing had ever been there. Minerva blinked several times as if she had been slapped. She stood abruptly then and put a hand reassuringly on her shoulder, and then Minerva was gone through the side door, with a very determined look on her face. At the retreating back of Minerva, a sinking feeling settled into her stomach. It was not from fear of distrust from Minerva that made Hermione suddenly queasy. The things Hermione knew could get her in deep trouble, if she was ever seized. She located Severus Snape, young and sick-looking at the Slytherin table, with his head low. How much Occlumency did he have control of right now? She decided she'd rather not find out.


	4. What Would Dumbledore Do?

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: Your eyes are not deceiving you. I did make a few adjustments after the kind reviewer, **Brass Camera **pointed them out. If you are a bit confused, like they were let me just clear a bit up for you. Hermione comes from the year 2000, where she is twenty-one. Remus is _not_ the Head Boy, although he is a prefect. He was born March 10, 1960. That makes him eighteen in this chapter. The year that I set this in is the Marauders' final year at Hogwarts, 1978. I'm sorry if that just made everyone much more confused. I thought I was being very precise in the placement of my years, but I was horribly off. It doesn't change the story all that much. It just makes my conscience feel better. If you were to go back and reread the previous chapters, the errors have all been fixed. No blips from now on, I hope. Thank you for all the kind reviews and please continue to send them. Thanks to my beta and this chapter is filled to the brim with plot points. If there is not enough Remus for your liking, no worries! The next chapter, which is halfway written, is ENTIRELY about Remus from beginning to end. So if you want that chapter, then REVIEW!

Also, this story is a companion to my Drarry, _Blind._ If anyone is worried about how this ends, then you can have a little peek at that story. I decided to not move on with _Blind_ until I finish this story because of how much we need Hermione to explain what happened that everything would go so horribly wrong in _Blind._

* * *

The day started uneasily, as the sixth and seventh year 'exceeds expectations' students filed into Hermione's spruced up Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. All of the Marauders were there in the front row with bells on. Apparently the idea of seeing the darkest three spells in the universe really interested them. Seeing their eagerness made her a little uncomfortable. Students in the past two years that she had taught in the future were always interested in them. Hermione wished she had never known these spells, but she figured that it was probably her post-war mentality kicking in. These young faces in front of her were about to enter into a battle or have these spells used on them. In the past, she would open by explaining her connection with the war, ask for questions, and then show them the three spells very briefly. She would explain the reactions and the defenses, or lack thereof, to these spells.

Now, as she took attendance and introduced herself as the substitute professor, students were more inquisitive than ever. She never thought she would wish for her fame once more, because then she wouldn't have to fabricate a drawn out story of her existence until now. She finished her attendance and jumped into her introduction of the Unforgiveables. The dreaded hand shot up in the air a split second later. He was a bright-looking Ravenclaw, named Meng Chang. He asked how Hermione gained so much knowledge about the Dark Arts, looking as young as she did. She tried to look thankful by his gracious words, as she formulated her story.

"I'm from the Ministry of Magic, New Zealand. I worked as an Auror for two years, until they downsized. I previously went to Beauxbatons for my schooling. I had my memory selectively-modified for anything I was majorly involved in for the last two years, for security purposes. Are there any further questions that are not to do with the lecture?" Hermione said clearly, channeling her inner Snape. She returned to her desk and pulled out three jars containing a single spider. It always felt terrible to see her victims sitting, completely harmless at her desk. There was no phrase she could think as she looked out over the students.

These three spiders were to be donated to study, but she was sure there was little consolation. If she were a spider that had the misfortune of being caught by her yesterday, she would not be happy either. She asked what unforgiveable the pupils knew of. Peter looked completely submerged in interest as he gave the name of the Killing Curse. She did not smile or award points, but she nodded simply. Hermione rattled off the three names of the wizards who had died by this curse on the _Daily Prophet_ this morning. The Hufflepuffs on the right side of the classroom had the decency to look very uncomfortable, suddenly.

A very young Narcissa Black raised her hand simply. Hermione called on her, reminding herself that this young Narcissa was probably quite innocent still. Sirius let out a huff as Hermione called her by her name. "Does the Killing Curse administer any amount of pain to its victim? Can it be diverted somehow?" Hermione shook her head and leaned against her desk.

"Although there has been no survivor to the Killing Curse because it is impossible to divert, or dodge, scholars suggest that it may feel like being struck with lightning. Ten points to Slytherin for a fine question." Narcissa gave a small smile and sat a little straighter in her seat. The Gryffindors in the front all groaned. Hermione felt a little twinge of pride for Harry. Harry, who had survived the killing curse, not once, but twice. Not to be bested by his cousin, Sirius raised his hand next. She took no time in calling him and he looked rather smug when referring to the Cruciatus curse by name and the immense torture it gives off. She nodded at him thankfully and asked for the last curse. There were no hands now. She frowned and crossed her arms. Her eyes scanned the class again and she called on Lily Evans when she raised her hand hesitantly.

"I am not sure what the name of the curse is, but it takes free will away from the victim." Hermione nodded and was about to award points when another hand rose directly behind her. She pointed at them.

"It is called the Imperius Curse." Severus Snape's deep voice preceded him. She gave a nod and went around her desk. She caught James' exaggerated eye-roll, out of the corner of her eye. Remus was very dismissive and he focused on the front desk almost too much. The two remaining marauders both raised very lofty eyebrows. Snape lumped his shoulders back forward and his greasy hair covered his face.

"I do not believe that there is any reason to do the spells I am about to perform. I understand that there may come a time when it is you or the enemy, but it ruins your soul to use these spells. What I am about to show you are extremely graphic in nature and I hope this lesson will give a deeper understanding of what the Dark Arts truly are. The Cruciatus and the Imperius curses CAN be fought off. They take extreme skill to do so, as the pain is quite terrible. It gives me no pleasure to do this to innocents and it is specifically for your benefit that I show you this. If there are any of you who would feel uncomfortable with the visual representation of these curses, you may go outside."

Hermione's mouth went dry as she pulled out a spider from the jar. She enlarged it and looked across the room, trying hard to not look at those who are not so innocent in the future. Hermione thought she spotted a couple Slytherins in the back row snickering. Hermione did not think about Goyle who was sitting next to Narcissa. Yaxley looked like he was downright giddy at the idea. She set it on the desk and went pale. Remus' eyes were set in an expression of pure concentration, his face set in an uncomfortable frown. Similarly Sirius looked quite chagrin at something Yaxley had said and James was looking straight at Lily and holding her hand.

"Right." She leveled her wand at the spider and said, "_Crucio." _The spider cringed and shook, all of his legs shaking and shriveling up in pain. Hermione shivered and placed the poor spider on the windowsill almost instantly.

As if she might lose her momentum, she opened the second jar and dumped the spider on the desk. She engorged it and cast, _"Imperio!"_ on it. She had the spider land on Yaxley's head, who screamed girlishly. It got the class laughing in an instant. Then she flung the spider across the room and it landed on Chang's book. It tap-danced a little and the class continued to laugh. Then Hermione threw it out the window. Promptly dropping her wand, she crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Victims of the Imperius curse have no free will and are forced to do whatever the caster wants them to do. Our spider can be forced to tell lies to his best friend. He can be forced to tap dance. He can be forced to jump off a cliff." The gravity of her words sunk in a moment later and her students were looking significantly discolored.

"All of these curses will get you several years, if not life in Azkaban. There is _no reason_ to use these spells." Hermione took out her final spider and placed it on her desk. She gave a brief glance to her students and yelled, "_Avada Kedavra!"_ to the spider. The green light filled the room and the spider was dead in an instant. The sheer force of the energy threw her papers all over the floor. She took her breath while collecting them and then returned her gaze to her students. Lily had her arms crossed in protest and Hermione was sure she was going to hear it. Remus and Sirius shared an incredibly bleak looking face, while Peter still looked mildly interested.

Hermione sat fully on her desk now, crossing her legs as they dangled above the floor. "Are there any questions? Comments?"

James covered Lily's hand on her desk and she seemed to lose a bit of steam, almost instantaneously. Hermione was secretly thankful for Miss Evans' silence, as she didn't want to have to explain herself on something she wished she didn't have to do in the first place. Before Hermione got too comfortable staring out over the class, Yaxley's hand rose. She inwardly swore as she nodded to him.

"Do these Unforgiveables have any different reaction to the body if they are used on a 'mudblood' like Miss Evans, as compared to…" Suddenly James, Lily, and Sirius were on their feet with their wands all drawn toward Yaxley. It took a moment for Remus and Snape to react, both of them acting as buffers for either side. Narcissa not-so-subtly removed herself from her seat next to Dolohov in search of calmer plains. Hermione was on her feet and in the center of the room as Yaxley removed his wand and made for a slick hex toward James. He took a cutting hex to the shoulder and Sirius shot a ''_stupefy''_ that did not meet its mark. Hermione had Yaxley immobilized in midair, a second later. She plucked his wand from his hand and let him fall to the ground. The others all lowered their wands at once.

Sirius was huffing hard from the sudden excitement, looking very in his element. Her heart gave little twang as she remembered him there in her third year, that same bold look on his face. She looked at James and Lily, both still shaking with anger. James' wound was gushing blood at an alarming rate and returning her eyes to Yaxley's confident face, she barked orders to Lily and Sirius to take James to the infirmary. She dismissed the others and they filed out, eyes wide with shock, all staring at Yaxley on the way out. Hermione motioned for Yaxley to walk in front of her and out in the hallway, only to find she was not alone. Remus was waiting in the hall, blood on his white collar, possibly from checking on James as that party made its way to the infirmary. He withdrew his wand and took up the right flank of Yaxley and Hermione followed from behind.

No one spoke as they made the trip to the Headmaster's Office, but Yaxley cackled the entire way. Hermione noticed Remus' neck looking impossibly taller; perhaps the situation got the best of him. The door was already wide open, Albus was in front of his desk with his arms crossed. He looked more cross than Hermione had ever seen him.

When Yaxley was directly in front of Dumbledore, Hermione and Remus backed off considerably. Dumbledore did not address Yaxley first, but he dismissed Remus. Hermione half-wished that she could be dismissed along with him, but she knew she would have no such luck. She placed Yaxley's wand into Dumbledore's hand and stepped back, trying to suddenly be much more interested in Fawkes, who was across the room. Before Hermione had even made it all the way across, Dumbledore stopped her. His face was much gentler now as his blue eyes bore into her.

"Hermione. Please explain to me what articles of the school rules our young Mr. Yaxley has broken that may very well result in his expulsion."

Yaxley started laughing ridiculously over the articles that Hermione started to recite about using foul language and attacking a student. He looked at the boy soberly and placed his hand on his arm, something Yaxley shook off a second later.

"Giorgio, you will restrain yourself." Yaxley spit into Dumbledore's face.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Yaxley bellowed, suddenly furious.

"Oh but Mr. Yaxley, that is your given name. The name of your muggle father. There is no shame in that. Your Dark Lord may have-" Then Yaxley crossed his arms and shot a look at Hermione, as if she would remark on his blood status.

"You will look at me when I talk to you, Giorgio Yaxley. Is this really the decision you have made? This is your third attack this year and I told you before that this is your last chance." Dumbledore looked to his fire gate as an exceedingly young Kingsley walked through. It looked as if he were only a few years out of school. He stood at attention directly next to the fire grate and crossed his arms.

"Mr. Yaxley, you will show us your forearms." Hermione didn't even bother craning her neck to look, she knew.

"Giorgio Yaxley, you are hereby expelled from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Mr. Shacklebolt will escort you to the Auror Headquarters." Yaxley's exaggerated laughing started again as Kingsley magically restrained him and led him to the fire grate. Yaxley fought at the grate for a moment and turned back to face Dumbledore awkwardly.

"I have a message for you from the Dark Lord, Dumbledore." Kingsley paused as if he were unsure of what to do. Dumbledore motioned for Kingsley to hold him.

"The Dark Lord would like you to know, that this entire place will be his someday. He wants you to know that all mudbloods will be enslaved for their heritage, as they should be." Kingsley rolled his eyes and pulled him out of the room before Dumbledore even okayed him. Hearing that word always made her feel a bit queasy and she knew that that creed would never leave that man's mind until the day that he dies. She went to make for the door slowly and Dumbledore stopped her, offering her a seat instead.

She took the seat, hoping that she would not have to offer too much opinion on the situation. It felt as if she were to speak now, nausea would overcome her. Instead of crossing behind his desk, like she expected, he sat in the guest seat next to her and patted her arm as he wiped his face.

"I do apologize, Hermione. I had hoped you could get through one day before you had to see some sort of outburst like that. I knew he was a problem, but call it pity or stupidity on my part, I simply did not want to admit I had a lost another student to Tom's ridiculous advancements." Hermione tried to be reassured by the Professor's words, but she knew that they both had much more on their minds than the expulsion of a single student. He was one more to the rising number of followers that Voldemort had now. Yaxley would be in and out of Azkaban soon and to Voldemort's right hand.

Hermione found a way to smile at Dumbledore for his seemingly endless kindness. It seemed to her that he had hoped that Yaxley would change his mind and see the reality of the situation before it was too late. Obviously not. She wondered how the Headmaster dealt with the loss of so many young students to something as farfetched as Riddle's ideas. She certainly couldn't handle the two years of war that she had to, how could Dumbledore handle these seemingly endless years of loss, regret, and anxiety.

"I want to say that I understand how you feel Professor-" Hermione started, but her words faded off, they sounded shallow, like she truly couldn't grasp that loss.

"If you are from the future Hermione dear, I am sure you have seen how this all ends. This is what I hope for. The end of this ridiculous war and victory, however bittersweet to reach our side would be my wish." Hermione really did know how he felt then. This feeling still woke her up in the middle of the night sometimes. She would wake up from a terrible nightmare and lay awake wondering if this really was what it felt like to be out of the war. To wonder if there would be another uprising was something Hermione tried not to do. She realized now, as she looked at Dumbledore's inquisitive face that the war was not over and done with here. What could be changed for the better and what for the worse?

"Albus, you told me once when I used the time turner as a student that I should try and save innocent lives. I wonder what you would think of that now." His eyes sparkled as the lunch bell chimed from far off.

"I believe that we need all the help we can get. I am not positive as to what end each life can be spared, because unfortunately some souls must be sacrificed for the greater good. I know you have seen war and I know you know who lives and who dies. I will leave it to you to decide who can be spared. I am sure there are a few innocents that can be saved even from so far off. I confess, Hermione, this was my idea when you first sat here. I could not offer it to you, of course."

"It makes me very anxious knowing so much can change if I decide to step on a bug or not." Hermione confessed, hoping Dumbledore in his infinite wisdom would have some sort of solution. He did not.

"I leave it to you. It is obvious that at this moment in time, we have won the war. I should hope to keep this intact. If there can be fewer casualties, then thank goodness for that. As always, if there is any way I can assist you in your quest, please ask. But, as lunch calls us, I think we should go where we are expected." Hermione stood, thankful for the excuse to be rid of the heaviness that settled in her stomach. She made to shake Dumbledore's hand and hugged him instead. He was not a constant in her life, but up until his death, he was damn close. He seemed to not mind though, he gave her a light squeeze and she backed off. She made a beeline for the door, trying to hide her embarrassment from sight.

"And Hermione..." She paused, but did not take her eyes from the exit. "I'm sorry, but you missed Will Oughtred this morning." Confused, she turned around and looked at him, who was leaning against his desk nonchalantly.

"I would have called for you, but Will was here for only about ten minutes. He comes in and out of this point in time often enough. I tried to explain that he should see you, but he was adamant that he would be back to talk to you in six months time. William has invented the sundial and his time turner, but he seems to always be running. He is an intimate friend of mine, which is perhaps why he visits but he can be a little set in his ways when it comes to time itself. It is best to trust that he has done this for a reason. Now, with your choice to try and alter the future for the best, I suppose I see his brashness in a new light."

Hermione tried not to huff. Teachers did not huff. Students huffed, but she could feel herself becoming a bit angrier at the words. If she had just met him this morning, she could have gone home and not had to worry about what to change or not to change.

She searched her inventory for a good reply and felt, "Six months?" was sufficient.

Dumbledore chuckled good-naturedly. "Will said that you would not be happy with the situation, but that you, the unlikely traveler, may be the best at making changes for the whole of us. He knew you by name. It is a feat in itself to have accomplished so much that he knew your name. He said that he has jumped to the future before and found that it is positive for our cause, but not to the best end that it could be. You see, Hermione…William believes that strange ideal that everything should happen for a reason. If that is so, then maybe you should adopt that same ideal. Take our lost Giorgio for example. I know that your pity for the losses on their side may save some and with how you reacted over Giorgio's situation as any clue, it shows me that you are not as tainted as some to let them all die." Hermione's mouth went dry and she leaned against the wall by the door. The intensity of Dumbledore's gaze made her look into the rafters of the office.

"You have six months. You know the future and you have a good amount of heart and bravery to save who you can without losing the war." Dumbledore rubbed the bridge of his nose and went to sit behind his desk.

"I trust yours and Will's judgment; please do what you can to give us favor and save those who have been lost."

Hermione took that as her exit and hurried out and down the hall. Feeling the nausea rise up in her, she hastened her steps and made it to the girl's bathroom in time. When she did not throw up, she splashed her face with water and looked at herself in the mirror. Standing up perfectly when a young Ravenclaw entered, she let out a deep breath and let herself out when the girl disappeared in one of the stalls. Had Albus Dumbledore always been this good at getting people to do exactly what he needs? She could not feel upset at him truly, but it felt painful to know that she could be back there in her normal life. Harry and Draco could be snuggled up on the sofa together as she told them all about this ridiculous adventure, over tea. Having gotten a hold of herself, Hermione straightened her robes and continued to the Great Hall. There they were, all those people she knew as dead, sitting innocently. She saw Remus smile at her as she walked by up to the staff table and she suddenly felt guilty. Hermione knew she could change some of these people's lives and her own as well, but she simply needed to get over her selfishness and fear. She found her seat next to Flitwick, and looked over the students sitting and talking over each other. Yes, Hermione Granger was given this task because she knew who could be saved and who could not. And she hated herself for it, as she looked at James and Sirius' faces while they playfully hit each other across the table.


	5. Day in the Life of RJ Lupin

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: I normally cannot bring myself to fully enjoy any chapter that I personally write, but this one is an exception. I have reread this chapter more than any of the others, simply because I loved it so much. I hope that you feel the same. Remus is all over this chapter as promised and if you love him and those crazy marauders, you'll review.

* * *

In the amount of time that it took Remus Lupin to do his nightly rounds for James, he had overlooked his best friends' most intricate pranks twice. Maybe it was because he had spent so much time with them that they seemed almost predictable, but Remus always knew their next big idea, even if he wasn't involved. He often wondered why Professor Dumbledore would give James Head Boy position, when he knew that James would never take his job seriously. Before this year, he had still been shoulder-deep in plans, (when he was not wearing his prefect badge of course), for the fun of it. The endless teasing on Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs' parts for his prefect badge was enough to make Remus want to continue in the pranks if only so that they would believe him when he said that he was still the same Moony.

Remus rounded the corner and checked his watch. Happy to see that it was Lily's turn to take over, he took off his prefect badge happily and tucked it inside his pocket. When he removed his badge every night, it felt good. It felt better than getting an 'Advanced' on his potion's assignment. To be honest he liked the idea of being Head Boy, but definitely hated the practice. Seeing as James never did his nightly duties, it was up to Remus to take all those extra hours. Along with wondering Dumbledore's motive for making _him_ Head Boy, he also wondered if it was a cruel punishment. Remus let out a sigh when he rounded another corner and saw Sirius rigging up some sort of spell to drop rotten eggs over Filch's office door when it opened. Remus simply lifted an eyebrow at Sirius when he turned around, happy to have finished his wicked fun. Sirius' grin diminished.

"Come on Moony, you're not going to be wolf-in-a-prefect's-badge about this are you?" Remus crossed his arms, but then Sirius came and put his arm around his shoulder jovially, and led him away from the scene of the crime; it was hard for him to be angry.

"See, now there's our good ol' Moony." They rounded up several flights of stairs to the common room before Remus finally put his arm over Sirius' shoulder as well. Sirius let out that bark-like laugh as they discovered Lily and James snogging like there was no tomorrow, right up against the portrait of the Fat Lady. The Fat Lady looked exceedingly put out and Remus laughed hard. Remus could see James' joke-of-a-head-boy-badge from a mile off. It was icing on the cake, really. Lily stopped and pushed James off of her carefully. James gave them both a wicked grin and put his arm around her waist. Her face went beet red to match her hair and she smacked James on the arm for being so happy about it. "So what are you two doing 'round here? Aren't you supposed to be disciplining Padfoot here for being out and about, Moony?" Padfoot crossed his arms as Remus leaned against the wall looking at the three of them.

"I let him off on good behavior Prongsie. I can't say the same for you. Over here snogging poor, innocent Lils." He checked his watch again coolly, and remarked, "It's 10:12 anyway. It would be up to Miss Evans whether or not to prosecute." Unlike Remus, Lily was not corrupted by Sirius and James like he was. If she saw something, she was going to take it down, even if it was her boyfriend. He wished he had that sort of bravery. Lily, for her part, looked intrigued.

She unwound herself out of James' arm and took the few steps it took to stand fully in front of Remus. He smiled up at her and she met him with a hard stare.

"Should I start prosecuting now or has Sirius already taken the snake out of Slughorn's office?" James snickered and she gave him a look. He quieted. Then Sirius laughed at exactly how whipped James was. He watched the match between Sirius and James over Lily's expectant face.

"Hello? Remus? Earth to Lupin?" She waved her hand in front of Remus' face to wake him up. He apparently had a wicked grin on his face watching the exchange. James was just about to shove Sirius' kissy face away from him. He shook himself out of it.

"What is it, Lils?" Remus asked casually, looking as innocent as possible.

"Remus, honestly sometimes you are as bad as them. Just tell me what mess I have to clean up!" Sirius paused in his struggle and looked over James' ruffled hair at Remus.

"I was just teasing, Lils. I figure you don't want to take points from Wormtail for making out with that Hufflepuff on the second floor." Lily was considerably more understanding at the news.

"No, I won't yell at them for being out. Who knows when there'll be some girl to snog Pete again." James and Sirius laughed at Lily's joke.

"Cheers to that." They said in unison, with a similar smile on their faces.

"Sometimes I wonder if James and Sirius over there are twins." Lily laughed, leaning next to Remus. "Well I s'pose that the night duty isn't going to walk itself." She went over to James and gave him a kiss on the lips that lasted a little longer than necessary. Sirius pushed out his cheek after the exchange and Lily obliged him with a friendly kiss on the cheek. She gave Remus a wave and hurried out of sight.

It was only a few minutes later that the three of them, with Sirius hidden under James' invisibility cloak and the other two with their respective badges a gleam, were heading toward the Prefect's Bathroom with a spring in their step. James rolled his eyes as Sirius clapped his invisible hand on Remus' shoulder as they strolled along. "Thanks for covering for me, Moony. That was real smooth. I don't think you could get me to believe that Wormtail had a girl, unless they were having a good snog right in front of me, though." Remus imagined Sirius wagging his eyebrows as he continued whispering, "Bet you three sickles it's not true, Prongsy." Remus laughed and gave a look to James, who was considering his options. He looked at Remus' face for some sort of tell, but there was none.

"Not true? I don't want to lose my money to the likes of you, Padfoot. What, do you think I'm barking mad?" Remus listened to the exchange as they rounded another corner. He mouthed the next words along with the other two marauders. He had heard this joke more than he could count and it never stopped being funny.

"Barking…eh? Well, barking is something only Moony and I can be guilty of." Remus laughed, feeling quite happy at the warmth that filled his stomach. This was the good life. This is what life was all about. Remus watched as James detached from the group and jogged in front of them to pick up something off the ground in front of the bathroom door. James examined the find carefully and he grinned from ear-to-ear. Sirius' curiosity suddenly peaked, and the three of them piled into the dimly lit bathroom as quickly as possible.

As soon as the door shut behind them, the stained glass mermaid, as well as all the lights surrounding her, got significantly brighter. Remus peeked over Sirius' shoulder. It was a moving picture of three people. He knew one was Hermione for sure and as he examined more closely, he realized that the other must be him. The last person in the picture was a mystery to him, but James mentioned just then that the last looked like someone he had met through his father at the Ministry on a couple of occasions. He was some trainee in the Auror's department.

James and Sirius handed the picture to Remus as they charmed their clothes into better bathing clothes and headed on into the tub, which James had already fashioned as more of a jacuzzi then anything else. Remus brought the picture closer to his face, as if it would reveal some sort of secret. When it did not, Remus continued to stare dumbfounded at his own aged face and then when he was through with himself, he stared openly at Hermione. He looked up at Sirius and James who were staring at him with matched amused expressions.

"What do you think Moony? A little rough 'round the edges, 'course, but still that same moonshine from you." Sirius remarked, looking at Remus first and then at James on an aside.

James took off his glasses. They were getting all foggy from the hot water and he flicked his wand at the tap, which immediately started jets that hummed in the water. He rested his head against the tile and pretended to be fulfilled with the jets hitting his back.

Remus ran his fingers through his hair uncomfortably and set the photograph aside in favor of the seat opposite James. There was a beat where the hum of the jets was all that he could hear. "Maybe she's taken up with this ministry bloke, then?" Remus asked, unsure of his true question.

Sirius let out a barking laugh, louder than strictly necessary. James chuckled along too. He leveled his brown eyes at Remus and that teasing look to his expression did not disappear, although his words were quite serious. "Look Moony, call me barking if you'd like, but Padfoot here saw it too. She seems pretty adamant about hiding the kind of relationship she has with you. There would be no reason to hide something that doesn't exist." He set his head back against the tile and looked at Sirius as he continued on for him, like a single consciousness.

"Like what Prongs said Moony, she wouldn't hide something if it wasn't something she didn't want to keep. It was creepy you know. She knew about the map. She knew about Lily." He looked over at James and grinned. "Okay, maybe that's transparent, but she knew about your furry little problem. You think you'd tell every girl you roll around with something like that? We know you, mate. I don't think that you'd tell anyone but that special lady about Mssr. Moony." Remus struggled not to let his face heat by their words and he was grateful to the pair that they both looked up at the ceiling, seemingly averting their eyes from Remus' embarrassed expression. A beat of silence, then James splashed Sirius with a quick flick of the hand. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Oi! Watch it Prongs, I know where you sleep." Sirius threatened in mock anger, as he wiped water away from his cheek.

"Do you now, Padfoot? 'Cause I haven't been to the guys' tower in some time." James' arrogance ebbed from his mouth. Remus rolled his eyes. 'Seriously, who didn't know that?'

"There is more than one way to skin a stag, Prongs." Sirius barked. "Even if I hadn't been shagging Lily's poster mate last weekend, I would have known." Remus rested his hands on his head and watched the scene, trying to relax.

"Who's this one, Padfoot? Or do you call her 'love' in the sack, to keep from shouting the wrong name?" Remus added, grinning like an idiot. James looked happy at the added support. They all heard the door open and close, but none of them glanced at Wormtail as he slid into the spa, opposite of Padfoot.

"Right you are, Moony. I couldn't tell you the names of my victims anywhere from seven to…"

"Seventy." Wormtail finished, a cheeky smile on his pointy face. Sirius laughed at that and then shot James a mock-glare when he joined.

"I see we are getting off track from the main point, Prongsie. The point is that if you splash me like that so-  
"Indignantly." Wormtail interjected.

"Yeah, then I'll have to tell Lils about how you kept a lock of her hair under your pillow all of last year." James raised an eyebrow and then splashed Sirius fully, making his long hair sopping wet. Remus hurriedly covered the photo behind him with his shirt and with his hands on the side of the tub and then joined in with the other three, not a second later.

When Sirius got too lazy to splash back some ten minutes later, they settled back in to their leisured positions and talked about Wormtail's lady friend for quite some time. Remus was sure that Wormtail liked the attention and jokes every so often. Of course, Sirius' bitter sarcasm always throws some of the best conversations for a loop, but James' or his own jokes were always able to fix those awkward silences. It wasn't until about an hour later, when the water started to feel too hot, did they all abandon the Jacuzzi in search of their semi-dry trousers. James left them, with his cloak on his shoulders, excusing himself to find Lily. The other three headed toward the nearest secret passage with their map toward the Gryffindor Tower.

Remus lay on top of his four poster's duvet staring at the ceiling for a while and then when he heard Sirius sneak out of the four poster below him accompanied with Wormtail's quiet snores across the room, he knew it must be late. He pulled out the photograph again and silently lit his wand to look over Hermione's smiling face once more. It was eerie and slightly discomforting to not be positive on something that he knew he would know for sure in just a couple years time. Was she his? He was not sure. Was her last name secretly 'Lupin?' He could not be sure. Did he have a bit of a crush on his young DADA teacher? Possibly.

Remus would like to think that Hermione would not be able to hide some affection so very great, if marriage was involved. Then again, as the light extinguished from his wand and he set the photo aside he thought about what kind of attraction he may have toward her. The image of the two of them seemed to stick on the inside of his eyelids. If she really was his wife from the future, she was probably exceedingly smart and gracious. He was certain he would never be attracted to a stupid woman and likewise a lady without the grace to forgive his lycanthropy would never be able to put up with him. Hermione had both of these traits.

The next morning, Remus awoke with a start. He realized he had forgotten to set the alarm the night before. He leaned over and rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the side table where Sirius' clock was ticking away. There was a note underneath the clock's stand with Padfoot's scrawl. He leaned off the side carefully and fell. Swearing to himself and rubbing his elbow, he pulled out the note.

_Mornin' Sunshine,_

_I don't know if you're awake right now, but I figured I'd set the alarm for you so you aren't late to breakfast. Who's your best mate now? I snuck off to meet up with number twenty-five. Don't wait up, Moony. And don't eat Little Red Riding Hood without me._

_-Padfoot_

_P.S. We'll leave it to you to return that photo to her. I'm sure she'll notice it's gone._

Remus groaned as he looked at the clock. It was five minutes before 7:20, when he normally got up. He could have slept just a few minutes more. He searched for the photo in his bed and quickly pocketed it and the note. He eyed his unmade bed and rubbed his eyes again. He disarmed the clock and headed for the WC. Growling at himself for those lost five minutes and the bruise that was forming on his elbow, he tried to remain hopeful for a better day. At least it was a Friday. Friday meant chocolate chip pancakes in the Great Hall. He would deal with the photo after breakfast. One problem at a time.


	6. Letter From Home

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: This chapter was so hard to write. Remus has always been my favorite HP character and to put him through so much torture was painful. Yet, I feel that many other fanfics that have included Remus in their stories tend to leave out the little details of his past. So I did put a few embellishments in here. The next chapter is already being beta'd, so do review and the next chapter will be up soon. BTW, if you are reading this just for _Blind_ you should know that it is on hold until I finish _Reminiscent._ Sorry, if you are waiting to get the chapter. You should know that I have just as much trouble withholding from you as you are waiting. We are about halfway through this fic now and I'm writing left and right. Review because it makes me happy.

* * *

There was no reason at all that Remus Lupin could not recover from waking up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Sure, he may have fallen out of his bunk and he may have woken up just a few minutes before the alarm went off, but he had a nice hot shower. He had chocolate chip pancakes to look forward to, and he had an easy day of classes ahead of him. James and Sirius were still absent from the Gryffindor table, but he sat next to Lily the moment he saw her red hair across the room. Wormtail filed in across from him not even a minute later. He tucked into a stack of five pancakes and gave the slightest nod of acknowledgement to Peter as he muttered a lazy sounding greeting to him. He had been part-way through his second massive stack of lovely chocolate cakes when the post came.

Correction: there was _one_ reason that Remus Lupin would not be able to recover his day. Regardless of whether or not he had found 100 galleons on the floor next to his bed this morning, or if he had fallen out of the Astronomy tower by accident, if he was breathing, getting a post from his parents was always a bad day. The owl was gone without so much as a petty look of interest at Remus and in turn he gave the letter the same treatment. He took a big gulp of pumpkin juice and then pushed his plate away from him. He noticed Lily and Peter were eyeing the letter with curiosity, even if he was trying to avoid it.

"Aren't you going to read your post, Remus? I've never seen you get a letter from your parents. It is from your parents, right?" Lily asked, intrigued. Remus was actually thankful for once, that Peter decided to answer for him.

"The only time Remus gets a letter from his parents, it is a bad sign. Last time he got a letter was in fifth year. They sent him a note saying that his grandfather had died quite suddenly. The grandfather was planning to leave something special to Remus, but since he never got 'round to signing anything legal, his wealthy squib cousin called dibs. Squib cousin hadn't even met Remus' granddad and didn't even know the significance of the item he was taking from Remus. Simply that it was expensive sounding. The letter in question was about as crass as I sounded repeating the story. It stated simply that his granddad was gone and that it included a list of the liqui-"Lily raised her eyebrows, until they were lost in her straight-cut bangs and she looked suddenly repentant for curiosity.

"Wow Remus, that's heavy." She scooted closer to him as James snaked into the seat on the other side of her.

James plucked a banger out of a steaming pan and chomped into it thoughtfully. He swallowed quickly and looked between the three. "Who is Remus' killjoy?" He asked, interested.

Before Peter opened his mouth to explain, Remus simply lifted the offending letter into the air between his first and middle fingers carelessly and then when James looked suddenly mournful, Remus let it drop again. Remus pursed his lips. It was true, after all. He had never received a single post from his parents that were ever positive in nature while he was at Hogwarts.

* * *

Anissa Lupin nee Cooper was a half-blood. She was not notoriously talented, by any sense of the word, in magic, but she could hold her own in Ancient Runes. Perhaps, she felt no true calling in magic and so maybe that was why she chose to live on the edge of the Wizarding community when she left Hogwarts. She hated that so many wizards had a superiority complex over muggles, and naturally, when she spent so much time defending them, she fell in love with one. Remus remembered his mother telling him stories about her parents. They wished she would have chosen someone in the magical community, but when they met Remus' ambitious father, Lloyd Lupin, they were won over. It was never something that passed through his mind as a child. A loveless family was like some sort of bad story that he himself had never personally witnessed.

A few days shy of the end of summer, everything changed. Remus and some muggle friends were playing in the park just down the street. He remembered being on the swings, when this wolf attacked his other three friends. He didn't know two of them very well. They were cousins of Connor, visiting on holiday. Connor, his best mate from next door was a peaky sort of kid, who hadn't quite grown into his big brown eyes and he had a pension for luring Remus into mischief. Connor was really the only one his age on the street, so it seemed fitting that they spent so much time together. He remembered Connor in his blue striped t-shirt and his strawberry-stained corduroys playing some sort of rough-and-tumble game on the slide with his bigger cousins. They play-fought and Remus tried to get ever closer to making the swing set rock and ultimately see what it was like to wrap the swing's chain over the top.

When Remus was successful in making the set bump the second time, he heard Connor scream. It wasn't the fun screaming that he had been hearing for the last few minutes. Startled, Remus directed his gaze in Connor's direction. There was a huge wolf ripping into his corduroy leg and thrashing about. The cousins ran off and Remus was stuck. The momentum from the swing kept him in place. As he did his best to be silent, which was impossible with his position on the creaking swing set, he considered jumping. The only problem was that even if he did, he would be closer to the wolf and he could not fall off backwards either. Remus felt hot tears run down his sun burnt cheeks as he heard the wolf give out a satisfied growl and then the monster attacked Connor's neck and Connor didn't scream anymore. That was scarier. Remus jumped.

He jumped simply because he knew he wouldn't be safe either way, but to stay on the swing was certain death. So he jumped and he ran towards the house as fast as he could go. The wolf knocked him down when he had only made it to the grass. Remus screamed, kicked, and cried as it bit into one of his thrashing legs. The cousins returned with Connor's parents and apparently the wolf was spooked and it scattered off into the shrubs and then out of sight. Remus remembered losing his voice to the pain that was that bite. Every open wound on his leg burned as if fire ants had nested deep inside his scorched skin. Remus remembered the universe swirling around him and he wished for an end. When he woke up in the hospital several days later, his father was standing there looking at a green-robed doctor. Everything hurt.

His mother came in and she started crying when Remus tried to smile at her and his father. "These _healers_ were right, Anissa."

She looked over at him with the same pained expression and then she kissed Remus' cheek. "Remus, honey, there is a lot we must tell you."

Remus remembered not wanting to move, but being morbidly curious of what was underneath the white sheets where his legs would be. He moved them slightly and he was happy to see that he had wiggly toes, sheathed by the sheets. "I've still got legs, mum?" Remus remarked tentatively, although he was unsure of whether or not they worked.

"Yes. That's very important, love." Remus looked at his dad, who put his hand on mum's shoulder. His father was expressionless, like when he got really angry or disappointed.

"Darling, you got bitten." Anissa offered weakly.

"Your mum seems to think that you got bitten by a _werewolf_." Lloyd tried to laugh, but maybe even he knew then that she was right. The healer that was there earlier came back in.

"Great Merlin! You're awake already!" Remus looked at the odd-looking healer. He looked harmless enough, salt-and-pepper hair with a tired-looking expression. The sick-colored robes were not something that looked good on him. Remus remembered looking at his mum and mouthing 'muggle' and she gave a dry laugh.

"He's no muggle, sweetheart." She looked up at the healer and as if on cue he shook Remus' weak hand.

"I'm Healer Ramsey, and I'm so sorry. Remus, what do you know about werewolves?" Remus was shocked and he spied a look at his father, as if he would be hiding a smile, like they were having him on. His father was still expressionless, and actually becoming more solemn by the moment.

"I know that they are supposed to be bad guys, in stories." Remus remembered thinking of Little Red Riding Hood, although that antagonist was simply a wolf that could talk.

"Yes, well…" Ramsey was obviously put off by what Remus had said and he took a second to regroup. "Remus, it is a bad situation that you were in. From here on out, you have to understand, that _that_ part of you is completely separate from this one. You can be Remus every day of the month, expect the full moon."

Remus laughed, it really was a joke. Yes, all of this. "Dad, tell him to stop joking." His father put his other hand on mum's opposite shoulder, possibly for support.

"I'm sorry son, but this is true." Remus tried not to cry the second his father finished his sentence.

"Look Remus, we have facilities here for young wolves like you. You will be contained and taken care of, for your first time."

"But, what about Connor? He…he's one too." Remus asked, grasping at straws. His mum started sobbing now.

"No, Remus." His father said, sadness overcoming him. "Sport, your friend isn't one because he's gone. He's dead, Remus."

Remus started sobbing too, and then he looked at his hands, like he expected them to be bloody. "Did I hurt him?"

His father crossed his arms as his mum leaned over, hiding her wet face in Remus' sheets. "No Remus, you didn't hurt him. That wolf did. He died and you have to be like this. There is no cure son."

After that day, when Remus was taken home to wait until the full moon came, his father started to turn cold. He never called Remus 'sport' again, nor did he want to play catch on Sundays.

His father closed him off and Remus went through a sort of depression. While his mother reassured him that she was happy to have him as her son, his father never spoke to him. He was sure that his father wished him dead. It wasn't until Remus got his letter from Hogwarts that his father spoke again. His father wanted him to go and his mother did not. She didn't want him to leave her sight and he wanted him as far away as possible.

They fought and he won. Remus went to Hogwarts that fall, obviously. His mother knew that the Wizarding community was safer, physically, for someone like him, but she also knew if anyone found out about his lycanthropy, he would not be regarded kindly. As Remus grew, so did his father's resentment. By the time Remus received his acceptance letter, his father felt his son's condition a liability. Remus remembered being scolded by his father several times after his attack. His father's fear always outlined worry for the muggle children. He was not allowed to play with the children on his row anymore because Remus might hurt them. His mother persisted, urging him to understand it was best that Remus at least be given the chance to practice magic, if he were to keep Remus shunned from the muggle community. Maybe with that magic would come a chance to find a cure or some sort of ability to harness this wolf inside him.

* * *

The row between his parents was the beginning of the guilt that built on his shoulders for being afflicted by lycanthropy. His mother never wrote him. He never asked why. He wished now that he had. He knew of her declining health. She had contracted some muggle sickness and over winter holidays this year, she was bedridden. Her sandy colored hair was thinner than he had ever seen it and his mother was sickly thin.

He looked at the letter in his hands and he did not want her illness to be the reason for this note. He did not want to imagine his father struggling to write this letter about the loss of his wife to the son he neglected. He looked to his left, trying to ignore the eyes of his friends' boring into him. There, he saw some young first year, eating from a biscuit tin that was still half-wrapped from home. He wished that this letter was a biscuit tin. Bracing himself, he opened the damned letter and hoped for the best.

_Remus-_

_I am sure you know that Anissa is exceedingly ill. We have finally discovered the disease that she has and it has made her delirious. She spends most of her days now, forgetting me. The task of caring for her is daunting and I can no longer do this alone, especially now that we are on in age. We sold the house and are moving into an assistance center. I have sent your things to the Potter's home and I am sorry it has come to this. Your mother asked me to tell you not to come see us. Alzheimer's is hard on her and she feels you do not need to see her this way. I find I agree with her on this and with your condition, I can imagine it would be best for all parties involved to keep your distance. I have enclosed the key to your mum's deposit of wizard coins and I know this is very little notice and this is little to offer you._

_Your Mum sends her love._

_-Lloyd Lupin_

The tiny brass key clinked onto the plate and Remus felt like something had knocked him on the side of the face with a broomstick. He dropped the letter onto the plate as well and his hands went into fists, his knuckles white. The headache was instantaneous and Remus stood up with a start and walked out of the Great Hall. He took a deep breath and let it out, knocking right past Sirius as he left. Sirius' 1000 watt smile faded instantly as he watched the retreating back of one of his best mates. He looked toward the Great Hall; James was already waving him down. Sirius jogged to James, sharing the frown that Sirius was adorned with as well.

"Remus got a letter from his parents." Lily offered as she collected and charmed clean the letter and key. She handed over the two items to James. With a look from Sirius, Lily made an excuse to leave, and was gone a second later.

"How bad?" Sirius asked simply. The three Marauders collected themselves right outside the stone arch of the Hall and read the letter. The three of them were silent as James folded it neatly and placed it along with the key into his robes.

"Let's give him some time, you think Padfoot?" James said simply, staring off into the direction that Remus had disappeared in.

"His dad needs to sod off." Sirius said bluntly. "I mean, my family has more class to at least soften the blow." Sirius crossed his arms in a degree of extreme dislike. Sirius never crossed his arms, unless he was completely uncomfortable with a situation. That meant it pretty much never happened.

"So, do we wait until after classes today-"Wormtail asked, and Sirius put his hand up in a motion to quiet him.

"Let's just wait for him to come to us. I don't think he'll be ready to talk for a time. James, why don't you give that note to Wormtail? Wormtail- Go and show that to Dumbledore and then just hold on to it for a while. We don't need him coming across it when he's trying to get over this rubbish later on." James gave Peter the note and he was around the corner in a split second.

* * *

Hermione was alerted of Remus Lupin's absence in all of his classes because of the loss of his parents. Dumbledore gave him a week off from classes for the mourning process, but from the whispering that went on between the Marauders during her previous lesson, she knew that he was making no arrangements to leave for a funeral. He apparently was 'making himself scarce' from what she heard, and she couldn't blame him. Dumbledore had also asked all of the teachers to excuse his school work for the week, because he was taking it exceedingly hard. She was the tiniest bit surprised when she saw him walking past her late that evening in the corridor that she shared with the prefect's bathroom. He looked tired and his eyes looked raw. It was strange. She had seen him after the full moon plenty of times and he had never looked as torn up as he did now. It seemed to makes sense. The wounds of losing someone close was always more painful than any physical pain. She would face the Cruciatus curse any day of the week if it meant that she could save Harry. She wondered if she should stop him, but then as he crossed her path, she decided to do so.

"Remus?" She watched as his retreating back froze and he turned to face her. She imagined his face was slightly regretful for stopping in the first place. Maybe he thought she was going to try and talk to him about his losses or something.

"Yes Hermione?" His mournful face disappeared into something quite expressionless and she decided she hated that face more than anything. It reminded her too much of the face that Remus had, lying on the floor dead after the battle. She never wanted to see that face again.

"Could you humor me a moment and come with me to get this book?"Remus looked confused. The library was closed, but as she led him to the doorway of her room and asked him to wait there, he understood. The room was sparse and unlike what he had expected. Then again, this lady was a time traveler who had nothing but what she was wearing when she came to this fate. It made him feel bad for her. She probably missed her life terribly. He imagined himself like the man in the photograph wondering where she had gone so suddenly. Would he be upset with her? He assumed not. After all, when she returned he would know where she had gone. The only corner of her room that did not look decidedly plain was the overwhelming amount of books on the ragged shelf. She had to take out two other books to remove the one she was looking for. When she returned to him, she had some strange smile on her face and it warmed him just a little.

She handed him a dusty maroon book that said, '_Your Patronus'_ on it. His face went to something that probably looked like confused. "I know that you have been exempt from all school assignments for this week, so don't think of this as one. When you feel like it, take a look at this book. It is invaluable that you know what is in this book. Learn and use this well." Remus raised an eyebrow as he took it. "Don't look at me like that Remus, just believe me. Besides, even if you don't get to it for a while, it helps to take your mind off things."

Remus nodded and went to leave. He was out of sight and into an adjacent corridor, before he stopped to look at the book. He smiled at the gold lettering and put it in his robes. This was Hermione's way of helping him and he wondered in spite of himself if it would always be that way. He was sure of it. He imagined an older him, getting pissed over some job and she would hand him a book. He was okay with that. It still hurt him as he continued to walk down the hall and he realized he would never be able to bring Hermione to meet his mother. Just hearing that term in his head made his heart flow with pain, anew. He wondered if his future self would be okay with the loss of his family someday. 'Time heals all wounds,' he thought as he felt along the bind of the book with his first and middle fingers.


	7. The Inconvenient Truth

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: I told you earlier this morning that I would have this chapter up and here it is as promised. I've got to thank my wonderful beta, Jessica because otherwise you would all be waiting. This chapter furthers the plot and gets us setup for the core of the fic. After this chapter, we will be seeing the progression of their haphazard romance and more on the plan Hermione decides to carry out. Review because it makes me happy and I'll be more likely to update. Believe me, the next chapter is what you really want.

* * *

The week Remus used for mourning came and passed. It did help him, if only slightly to try to get over the resentment he felt for his muggle father. Instead, he masked that pain with another, loss. Loss was more familiar and more potent than any sort of anger he harbored. At first he tried to understand how someone could have so much fear in them that they would practically disown their son, but he assumed that _fear _was not something that was inherit in his mind on a regular basis. Sure, there was fear that he might kill someone on the full moon night. He was not about to throw away all of the friendships he had made because of something like that. His mother didn't deserve to have it all end like this, but she would not have approved of rocking the boat either. It was probably best to remember her as she was, when he was a young child and she held him close the night before the full moon.

Remus returned to classes, against his best friends wishes. They all seemed it strange that he was so eager to return to work, but it was tiresome to be alone. He had read through the book Hermione had given him, which proved more of a tedious task than he had first imagined. The book was dull and uninspired, but the subject was unlike anything he had heard of before. Apparently, a Patronus could do all sorts of things. From all of the times he had tried to conjure one himself though, he got little more than a wisp of white air. He endeavored to ask Hermione for help on this subject later on.

Sirius rolled his eyes two nights ago, when Remus was feeling up to being seen in the common room. He thought it was ridiculous that Remus would spend all of his 'extra' time reading a book that looked duller than the required reading for McGonagall's class. Sirius got a real laugh when Remus told him it was for the hell of it. Still, he hadn't mentioned to them exactly who had given it to him. Perhaps James would have understood that one, but then again maybe not.

It was the night before he would be officially returning to classes, that Remus found himself gaping openly at his DADA teacher at supper. He liked that she wasn't ridiculously pretty. That is to say, that sure she was good-looking, but not someone who would be in _Playwizard. _She was attractive, and she had fine curves. He could tell from where he was sitting that she had them under those robes of hers. The truth about it was that she was an older, mysterious, and extremely intelligent woman. She wasn't much older to be sure and hell, maybe he was the cradle-robber in this romance, but she had that mature feeling to her that was right up his alley. Intelligence just oozed from her and if she had been stupid, Sirius would have been all over her. It was like all these traits fell into place for him and matched with that sort of mysteriousness and that exhilaration of being keen on someone he definitely shouldn't be, just added to his interest. He was truthful when he had told Lily that he was happy to be returning to classes, some minutes after he had pried his eyes away from his vessel of attraction.

A few minutes later, the other marauders cleared out with their respective girls and Remus found himself going up to his common room, to catch an early night's sleep. He dug his hands into his pockets and felt a piece of paper come into reach. Interested, he pulled it into view and he rubbed at his forehead, overwhelmed with his forgetfulness. The picture was thankfully in good condition, with only a dog-eared corner to show for it. There was a happy future: Remus, Hermione, and mystery man smiling up at him. She did look a bit younger than Remus, almost unchanged from what he saw in the Great Hall this evening.

How had he forgotten to return this to Hermione the last few times he had seen her? Guilt lit in him like a warm matchstick and he pocketed the picture quickly. Would she be cross knowing that he had had it all along, or would she be thankful it hadn't been found by anyone else? He had to return the book, and ask her for help in conjuring a Patronus as well. Should he just do this all at once, or drag each meeting out of class to the greatest amount of time possible? Of course, he decided on the latter. It was juvenile of Remus to want to hold on to the photograph for a little longer, but he would have time to return it. Then again, it was wrong to keep it. She was probably worried sick about the only thing that could remind her of where she came from. No, he should definitely return it and the book. He could ask for tutoring sessions on the Patronus charm at some later date, when he was sure she was no longer cross. It was upsetting that when he finally addressed his surroundings he was practically nose-to-wood with Hermione's door. He really needed to stop and reconsider being so keen on her. The marauders would start calling him a 'little lost pup' if they could see him now. Hesitantly, he knocked and there was no answer. He was really getting that love bug, if he couldn't even think rationally enough to remember she was probably still sitting at the teacher's table.

Remus took a deep breath and stepped away from the door and started off toward his original destination. That upper bunk in the Gryffindor tower was looking more and more appealing by the second. Sirius and James wouldn't be there and possibly even Peter would be absent. Without those three to cause a ruckus, he could probably sleep. Remus forgot entirely what he had been thinking, because Hermione was rounding the corner, her face obscured in a large tome. He wondered if she had Quidditch arms from carrying books like that all the time. She did not speak, but rather she stopped in from of him. A second later she placed her first finger to hold her place and closed the book. She let it dangle at her side and then she regarded Remus with a smile.

"You and the boys seem to spend a very large of amount of time around the Prefect's bath, Mr. Lupin." She said in an amiable tone.

"Yes, it is one of our favorite haunts." Remus said simply, afraid of mussing up a more complex sentence structure. Why couldn't he be all smooth and confident like Sirius and James when they were dating?

She looked down at her book and then back up at him. Apparently she had hoped for something a tad more conversational, than an affirmative answer. "Well, I will not keep you, it seems you were just heading out?"

Remus mentally smacked himself and looked straight into her brown eyes. If he was lucky enough to have her in the future, then there was no need to be afraid now. She probably knew loads more than he did about himself. That's what lovers did, right? They knew way more than you ever thought you'd reveal about yourself? Lovers? Now, that was an interesting term. He really liked that term.

"Sorry Herm-, Professor Granger. I, er- was actually looking for you." He dug his hands in his pockets, matter-of-factly and admired the curiosity that spread across her face.

"Oh, well Mr. Lupin, how may I assist you?" Hermione replied courteously, shifting her tome into the crux of her arm, never removing her first finger from the place in her book.

Remus' mind rolled. He should have never thought of the term 'lover' in the first place. Now, here he was thinking completely uninnocent answers to that question. Maybe, he did not need any more guidance from Prongs and Padfoot in this situation. "I, uh, wanted to return this book to you and your, er- photograph." Remus offered the photograph and the book out for inspection. Hermione looked mildly shocked, and upon placing the photo in the book, she took Remus by the hand and led him to her room. She carefully closed the door behind them and looked at him like he had grown a second head. It felt extremely intimate to be in Hermione's room, which she apparently cared less about at the moment.

"Remus, tell me where you found this. Did someone give it to you? Please tell me you didn't show anyone." He blinked and looked again at the photo in her hands and then back up to her worried expression.

"We found it the other evening. We meant to return it to you the next morning, but then, well, I got a bit of bad news and forgot to return it to you." Remus confessed, shuffling a bit on his feet.

Hermione sat on her bedside and pulled out the chair from her writing desk. She laid the book she had been holding open beside her. "_Who_ were you with?" Remus sat in the chair that was offered him.

"I was just with Sirius and James. Worm- Pete came along after we had already finished talking about it." Remus blurted out, feeling pinned by Hermione's unrelenting worry.

"You haven't shown anyone?" Hermione asked, the balloon that was her worry started to deflate a bit.

"Not a soul. Don't really see why that mat-oh…" Remus felt suddenly much more worried for Hermione.

Here he was, so enamored by her. He never thought how this may look if it were found. Hermione lofted an eyebrow. The look didn't really look at home on her face. It reminded him oddly of James. "There are so many reasons why it is vital this is _never_ found. Imagine if this falls into the hands of someone who takes up with Voldemort. We don't need them to start thinking about how much I know, or about how they could alter the future to their liking. It is best to not have to explain to students, faculty, the Order, and Death Eater's alike why Remus Lupin, who is only eighteen, is aged in this photograph next to the DADA teacher who looks the same as she does now." Hermione explained concisely.

Remus was stunned. Here, he had thought that it was because of how they looked together. He didn't want to add to her concerns.

"Besides that, I miss my future greatly sometimes. I was bereft that it had gone missing." Hermione put her hand on his shoulder, as an encouraging gesture. "Look, I apologize to be unloading on you like this." Remus wondered if he was flushed. She was very close. "Thank you for returning this photo to me, and for having the good sense to keep it hidden. If I hadn't warned James and Sirius about this same thing, I'm unsure of where I would be right now." She released his shoulder and looked around. "I wish they would give me a receiving room, like the other professors. Maybe they hadn't thought I would get to know anyone all that well." She stood and glanced at the photograph, before pocketing it. A look of relief washed over her face.

"I'm sorry to put you through all that worry. I didn't know it meant so much to you." Remus offered carefully, feeling slightly disheartened.

"Ah, well! I understand; one person's trash is another's treasure." Hermione said simply.

Remus felt winded. "I don't think that it was trash at all. When I first found it, I-"He felt suddenly quite conscious of his words. "I couldn't stop staring at it. It is a pretty bright future for something like me." She looked slightly amused at that.

"A picture with me and-" Hermione started, but Remus cut her off.

"Any future is bright for me. Something with you in it is absolutely brilliant." Hermione looked suddenly uncomfortable.

"That is kind of you to say, Remus. I imagine you meant to return this book as well?" Hermione tried to change the subject. Remus felt his heart sink. She didn't want to talk about their future. That was fine. Maybe, she didn't want to let out any spoilers.

"Yeah, Hermione. Thanks for that. I wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to teach me the spell? I can't seem to get a hang of it." She led him to her door, started to shake his hand, and then she awkwardly hugged him. Remus was on fire, he was certain. She released him a split second later and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry. You just don't know how thankful I am to have someone here I know. I mean, I know everyone, but out of this lot I only really ever talked to you and Dumbledore." Hermione said apologetically. "Of course, I'll help you learn how to do the Patronus charm. Just come to my office tomorrow evening and we'll hammer out the details." She regained her business-like attitude in that moment and she opened the door to the hall. He was gone and out of sight a moment later. She let go of a sigh she didn't know she had been holding. She never thought he would get the wrong impression. Did he think that they were married or something in the future? She felt guilty instantly, but her peculiar situation pinned her to the spot. If she exposed the relationship that they didn't have, why was there any reason to trust her? Worried now more than ever, she decided that if the nature of Remus' relationship to her came up again, she would concoct a truth. She felt so lonely in this room, even as looked at the picture once more and put it in her side-table drawer.

Hermione rubbed her eyes in anguish. She missed Harry the most and although she would never admit it openly, she missed Draco as well. Remus' face, although much younger, was one of those few that she still felt accustomed to. It didn't hurt that he was attractive and helpful, as well. Besides Dumbledore and McGonagall, she felt a little lost with all of these people even when she knew so much about them. That was why she had hugged him. It was reckless and completely unethical to do so. There went her professionalism and she was really mucking up her mantra of getting involved as little as possible. Still, it felt good to talk to someone outside of class. When she had decided to take on this ridiculous quest, she hadn't thought on about how hard it would be to be so disconnected. She inwardly groaned. It was a blighter for imagining it was easy. She had always had Ron and Harry at her side, now she was quite lonely.

Hermione crossed the sparse room with a grimace. There was no hint of life in this little apartment of hers, and she vowed to at least put some flowers in her glass bookend. As she had done every night since she spoke to Dumbledore, she pulled out a list from her side table drawer and took the seat that Remus had previously vacated. Leaning over her desk and removing her quill and inkwell, she started to read over the names on her list again.

_Possible Salvation_

_-Fred Weasley_

_-Remus Lupin_

_-Nymphadora Tonks_

_Possible Intervention_

_-The Malfoys_

_-The Longbottoms_

_Unchangeable Future_

_-The Potters_

_-The Blacks_

_-Albus Dumbledore_

_-Severus Snape_

As she looked over her list once more, she was tired already. It was frustrating to her to have the names of lives on a piece of parchment and try to think of them as simply a puzzle piece. The truth was that this was rather a liberal list and it was bound to get shorter as it went on. She decided to tackle the things she couldn't change first. It felt like she was playing a devil's advocate, making sure the tragedies played out and that all the wrong things went just so. She decided that the Potters were pretty much set on their own path. She would go for the Blacks next. It was important to locate and 'tip off' Regulus Black. It was best to never meet him in person, because she was not certain where or when he would decide to betray Voldemort. Out of careful consideration, she would first check the Azkaban records and see if he happened to be in prison at this moment in time. If not, she would have to locate him and send him an anonymous owl. She hoped he was in prison, because it would make her next plan in action that much easier.

Severus and Albus were also seemingly always able to decide their own fates and they would be binding their fates to one another, sometime in the not so distant future. That left her other, much more difficult tasks. The Longbottoms were more difficult to navigate a plan for. She could of course, walk right over to the Order and ask them to believe her. Then she would just tell them not to take the mission, which she was certain would be just so very easy. It was probably as simple as getting a three-headed dog to fall asleep. The Malfoys were also difficult. She looked over her notes scribbled elegantly on a separate piece of paper. Her last bullet point was circled. Narcissa Malfoy nee Black was definitely the most likely to be susceptible to something as ridiculous as an anonymous tip. The idea was that something as strange as an anonymous tip on a marriage she is not even in yet, may be completely discarded. Perhaps, the note would be filed in the back of her mind, for use someday. The worst that could happen would be to have the same events as before. In truth, she was unsure to send the post at all.

The final list lay splayed out in front of her. The 'Potential Salvation' was a list of possible saved casualties, but it was just that; possible. She felt less assured of her original plans every time she looked over this list. She could try to save Fred, but even if they were alive right now or not, she was certain Molly would not take kindly to some anonymous letter. Someone to deliver it to him personally at a later date may allow him to avoid or at least prepare for his own death. It would be the same for Remus.

Tonks was the problem here. Bellatrix Lestrange was her murderer and if the events surrounding her death were a duel of some sort or an accident, it was best to her future to let Tonks go. Tonks, although she was not very personal with the lady, she did not seem like the type to be able to kill her aunt. Then again, she was a trained auror. Bellatrix had to be stopped some way, if not by Tonks then she must always be on that course. Molly Weasley had to always be on track to kill Bellatrix, or Bellatrix would continue on. She would carry out Voldemort's order even when he was gone and her insanity made her hard to stop. The lady definitely needed to be stopped as soon as possible. Tonks may have to be sacrificed for the greater good. It made her sick to think that way, yet she knew that some had to be lost. She would try everything to preserve all of Lupins' happiness that could be had.

Hermione rubbed her face tiredly after making her notes, unknowingly spreading black ink on her cheek. This was possibly the hardest part about accepting a task like this. She knew there were some who always had to die. There would be little forgiveness for someone who had the choice of saving a loved one and they were not saved. What if she was too thick to see the wrinkle in time?


	8. The Youngest Black

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: Sorry that it took me so long to update. Was that three weeks? I think so. This is not the chapter I've been looking forward to sharing, but the next chapter will be much better. As it is, we get some insight into what Hermione thinks of Remus, at least a bit of it. She'll be thinking of him quite a lot from now on. If you review, I'll be more likely to reply faster. If I don't get much, I'll be putting the next chapter off like this one.

* * *

If there was one particular reason for Ms. Granger to doubt the stories projected by the Ministry, it would be this one. Hermione remembered reading about Regulus Black half a year after the Battle of Hogwarts was over. _The Prophet_ wrote a "ministry-approved" biography on the youngest Black. Sirius was again completely cleared of charges and Harry was given a medal on his behalf for housing the Order during part of the war. Regulus was given only a few lines compared to Sirius, but it went something along the lines of him being thrown into Azkaban at the very sight of the Dark Mark on his arm around the holidays of 1978. Of course, Harry still added a quote to the article saying that Regulus gave his life to the cause and that he assisted in the death of Voldemort. After having read all of this and having been there when Harry gave this statement, she still could not understand why the too-pale young man was standing in front of her office door. Even with such a gaunt form, he still had the attractive Black features about him. He could have been Sirius' twin, really. He was wearing his full length robes that more than covered his arms on the first day of April. Fred and George Weasley are born today and that was a cause for celebration, but she would think on that later. The point is that Regulus was suspicious. It is terribly humid out and she is certain he was hiding that Dark Mark under those sleeves.

As Hermione approached the young man he turned and his face was expressionless. She felt slightly sick at the lack of emotion in his eyes and it was even more disheartening when he added a brilliant smile to his face. She purposely offered her left hand to shake her new student's, but was unable to glance at his arm as they shook briskly, and he kept his gaze upon her. It made her worried to look away when he was holding her gaze so fiercely. She opened up her door with the key from her pocket as she introduced herself over her shoulder, happy to be able to look at something else rather than those dead black eyes. "Regulus Black," he replied curtly. He followed her into her office without invitation and took the seat that was opposite her desk.

"I see you have been on extended leave-"he handed her a letter with the Black seal on it. She opened it and struggled to keep from rolling her eyes. His mother was apparently on the school board and she gave some cock and bull explanation for why Regulus was absent for four months. He had "spattergroit," which was a lie if she had ever heard it. Yet, she swallowed and set the offending document aside.

Regulus, for looking like a charming corpse, crossed his ankle at his knee and waited. The look he gave off was something of a mixture of old-world aristocrat and a Cheshire cat. He knew she could say nothing about his absence. "Right, well- Mr. Black it is good to see you are quite recovered from such an illness. So how to go about you catching up is the problem here." She pulled out the textbook and began thumbing through the pages. She took down a list of the things he had missed, since she had started teaching and then struck with a sudden inspiration wrote 'Defense against Soul Containers' on the list. She would have to add an extra assignment to her sixth and seventh year students' list, to not raise suspicion. The lesson she would teach tomorrow would be 'Defense against a Specialty Dark Magic.' Yes, she would let the students make a choice and Regulus may only feel upset that it was unfair that he did not get to choose. She already had a reply for that too, if it should ever come up. She glanced at the lifeless-looking wretch of young man perched in the chair opposite hers, his bloodshot eyes were looking out the window. She stood and he did as well. She handed him the note and a copy of the textbook. He took them from her delicately as if her lightest touch might burn him. Hermione held up her hand to keep him from leaving. She scribbled down an allowance for him to visit the Restricted Section of the library under close watch and saw a hint of surprise play on his face as she handed that to him as well. Apparently he had been reading her writing already.

"This allowance is for your final line. This is where we are starting tomorrow. I will grant you until April 22nd to make up the missing assignments and you may turn them in as you finish them, so that I know you are making progress." Regulus nodded and made for the door. He stopped short, with his hand on the doorknob and thanked her for her time. Then he was gone and Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She collapsed back into her seat and analyzed her plain desk. After she finished off her tea and stared at the spot where her magic clock would have been for a minute longer than necessary, she cleared her desk and put her head down after making a spot clear from her tower of papers.

As it has been proven several times over, when it rains, it pours. Just as she laid her forehead on the cool wood of her desk, a loud knock filtered through the silence like a jackhammer to her forming headache. She took a big gulp of her coffee and bid the person welcome. It was Remus. Her vulnerability dissipated instantly, if only just beneath the surface, and she threw caution to the wind. He looked slightly disheveled and a large angry welt Hermione knew to be claw-marks took up the left side of his face, from his eyebrow to the corner of his mouth. He sat down before she offered and she shut the door behind him, before returning to her seat.

She settled back into her seat and took another gulp of her coffee, remembering at the oddest moment an old conversation she had had with George about putting Fire Whiskey in coffee. Hermione remembered commenting that it would be insupportable to have alcohol so early in the day. How wrong she was. Her gaze settled on his and she felt instantly guilty. He looked every bit as worn as she felt, if not more. His eyes were bloodshot, which held a stark contrast to his blue irises. It was unsettling how he was keeping eye contact with her. He did not give off Remus' trademark gentle nature like she had become accustomed to. His demeanor was not hostile per se, but definitely dominant. With astute rationality, she felt he owned everything suddenly. He owned that chair he was sitting on. He owned the office as soon as he walked in. The way he leaned forward was slightly unnerving, but he was still highly attractive even when he looked like he could devour her. She noticed that several long moments had passed while she was looking him over, and he still had that devouring look on his face. She wondered if she should just wait for him to speak. She didn't have to wait long.

"Hermione-" His voice was more dulcet then she had ever heard it and she suddenly found herself more worried about this conversation than the uncertainty of Regulus' situation. Battling with herself over how to approach what she was sure would not be a conversation intended to shoot the breeze, she decided to hold onto her professional mask as long as she could.

"How can I help you?" Hermione said simply, fingering the topmost of the essays to her right, angry at herself for it being so tidy. It would be rude to move these in front of her now. She did not want to continue making eye contact. He seemed to ooze dominance, or was it confidence? Fidgeting a bit, she decided to lean back and she took in a quiet breath. The comfort of the chair at her back helped her relax a little. She rested her hands on the desk, one of them around her cup.

He seemed to be bludgeoned a bit by the formality of her voice, but apparently this boldness was not one to be struck down so easily. Remus let out a noisy sort of huff that sounded more like something from an animal than someone sweet like him. It stirred something in Hermione then, that she couldn't quite understand. Yet, she understood what she felt when he suddenly reached across the desk and put his hand on hers. He was all warmth and it sent a tingle of excitement mixed with a long-suffering guilt. She let the gesture go on longer then she should have, but when she got a hold of herself she stood up and took her hand away as if she had been burned. Remus stood too. He looked offended at the action and before he spoke she cut him off. "Remus, this- _this_ is completely inappropriate!" She said, struggling with the other thoughts that were offered to her in her mind.

It was. It was clear at the moment that Remus' emboldened nature had gotten the best of him in that moment and he felt suddenly quite awkward. He felt the need to look away, to look anywhere but at Hermione's face. At the same time, it was tough to do so. His need for dominance, entrenched completely in his wolf nature, told him he could not. "I'm sorry that _this _is so disgusting to you." He gestured to himself offhandedly and Hermione wanted to crumble. Slighted, he had the good nature to let himself out of the room, before he said something else he would regret.

The urge to follow that man and comfort him was so strong that she found herself holding the knob to her shut door, white-knuckled. Then, the question bubbled to her mind like an unwanted guest. Why did she feel the urge to stop him? Why did she want to correct him? She cared, that was obvious. It would be a lie to say it was simply friendly feelings at this point. It was wrong, though. She would never allow a student-teacher relationship whether she was the student or the teacher. Remus must see why she had to reject him. 'Reject' was a strange thought. Did she want to? No, it was not a 'want,' but a _very_ significant 'need.' She needed to reject him. Whether it was for her job, his marriage, the future, her sanity, or all of the above, it would be terribly inappropriate to get involved with an extremely fit Remus Lupin, when she knew of his future – his death and his wife. Leave it up to human nature to always want what you can't/ shouldn't have.

Guilt pooled in her stomach like bad chow mein, and it made her twice as nauseous. Hermione felt sick as she backed away from the door and sat back in her seat. She willed herself to take another sip of her coffee. It didn't help, of course. It was ridiculous that Remus should believe it was for his lycanthropy that she should reject him. She figured his strange reasoning would be simply because his lycanthropy is at the forefront of his mind. Maybe, he finds everything offensive. Now, that sounded more like her time of the month then a werewolf's. But how different could they be really? She was certain that she felt more like a dying animal for a week out of every month than a human. She mentally chided herself at the level she was understating his condition. She was sure he did not see it that way. Still, one thing was certain. No matter how enticing Remus was. No matter how sexy she found that innate dominance, she could not speak with him on it again. She would simply sweep this under the rug and hoped he did the same. She would try to be the good person here, even if it hurt them both in the process. Remus couldn't know what she knew and that was why she had to be in control with this. Oh, if Tonks saw this!

* * *

It was Sirius who noticed how especially vicious Moony was the night of the full moon. Not to mention him being moody and even refusing to eat. Refusing to eat before a transformation was unheard of in Moony's case. It was normal to see him take seconds from his plate and everyone's around him. James started noticing when he came to breakfast the next morning and still only had a slice of toast. Beyond all the terrible scrapes and scratches that covered his arms and a fresh gash on his face, Remus looked really torn apart. It wasn't just regular tired and irritable that the Marauders were used to, but Remus seemed to give off guilt and embarrassment to a new level. Remus actually put his head down at the breakfast table, which was something that Remus only did once before. Clueless Wormtail actually looked worried since the last time Moony did that, Remus about ripped him a new one. Remus was never hostile towards Pete, but that once and even afterward Remus apologized profusely. It was only when Remus was _really_ sick that he put his head down and when he felt that sick, he got a bit… animalistic. As it was, Wormtail made his excuses and left the table. Sirius figured it was because the peaky guy didn't want to get threatened and barked at like he was some offensive rat. Made sense. James shot him a raised eyebrow, and before Lily could be stopped, she rubbed his back sympathetically. Sirius saw it happen quickly, that protective look he gave Remus over Lily's behalf. When Remus didn't jump or even move, he crossed his arms and watched.

Slowly, Remus lifted his head and took a deep breath. He rubbed his face, as if to say he was just tired. It was an obvious lie, but in true Lily fashion, she just smiled at him and accepted the lie, so as not to pry. Even with Remus' guard up, he looked sick. Sirius caught the glance Remus made to the teacher's table while he made polite conversation about what he wasn't doing the night before. James went along with it, but Sirius found himself following Remus' gaze up the staff table, as well. Hermione was there, in a seat next to McGonagall, pushing something across her plate and making conversation with an animated-looking Flitwick. Sirius was by no account an auror, but he could sniff out a connection when he saw one. Yes, he would be pulling Remus aside later, when he got the all clear that Remus wouldn't rip his head off. Sirius got up unannounced, and trotted off toward the water closet. What a busy day. A rendezvous with a younger Hufflepuff, and then sorting out Moony's emotional problems, how did he find time for his studies? Sirius let out a chuckle to himself as he walked. Oh wait, he didn't.


	9. It Grew From There

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter or Warner Bros. franchise, nor will I ever claim to. J.K. Rowling owns all of these characters, I just choose to ignore what she did with them.

AN: So this chapter was the one that inspired this entire story. From here on out, mature content abound. If you felt like this relationship is too easygoing, you may want to reconsider. IT will become much more complicated from here. Review! It makes me want to write and update sooner. I'm sure all those story alerts want that.

* * *

Time can often leave even the most perplexing of mysteries unsolved. Perhaps no one knew that truth better than Narcissa Malfoy. The fine woman had changed much since she had received the letter twenty-three years ago. She had built a family. She had raised Draco with the very best she could offer. Although some asked her if she had regretted letting Lucius be a part of the war, it never seemed a choice. She had always had a design for Lucius Malfoy, even before she was of age. It just so happened she was lucky enough to come from the right family to allow her to pursue such whims. Lucius and Narcissa were sweethearts since his seventh year, and he had given her privileges then. She loved him even in this moment. After everything he had put their family through, she still loved him. It was sound in her mind, that simple truth. Narcissa crossed her arms as she stood facing the world, with her back at the front door of Andromeda Tonks. Narcissa did not trust him. Growing up with her older sister, Narcissa learned at an early age to separate those feelings with the necessities it took to get what you needed. The wind was too warm, a reminder that her son's birthday was just around the corner. As she stepped off the porch of her once estranged sister's run-down home, she was certain she had made the right decision. Narcissa uncrossed her arms, and as she was not quite ready to apparate to the Manor, she walked down the rocky drive toward the shady trees.

It was like a sign. Narcissa remembered getting the letter and being terribly vexed about not being able to open it. The Slytherin table threw every spell possible at that letter to try and get it open that morning at breakfast, but to no avail. When she tried to open it alone later on, when she was in the common room by herself that night, a simple note appeared on the back of the envelope. _ "This note will be revealed only to you, on the night that you feel you have lost what is most valuable to you." _Chagrined at the cryptic response, she assumed someone had played a joke on her. For the most part, she had hidden it away. She only tried to open it when she was worried. There were nights when Lucius didn't come home from his "_efforts_." Draco had frightened her enough, too. It seemed every night of his sixth year, she tried that letter. Her two dashing men were all that mattered to her. She pulled out the letter from her robes and paused under the shade of the nearest tree. The letter looked brand new. No one would have guessed it was twenty-three years old. It was strange. The name on the front of the envelope changed with hers. When she had first received it, it bore her maiden name, and now as she looked down at it, it had her husband's name in its place. She pulled out the letter that had been revealed to her the night that Severus killed Dumbledore. Narcissa never cried in front of anyone, she hardly even made the exception for herself, but she remembered having to excuse herself from their bedroom to stare at the letter. The letter inside never changed, it just bore up at her seemingly out of response of her darkest fear.

_Dearest Narcissa,_

_The sins of the Father should not be on the shoulders of your only Son. You are skilled at hiding your thoughts from everyone and now it is of the utmost importance that you practice those skills. Your husband will lose your trust and he will put your son's life in danger. _

_When the chance is provided to you and no one else, take it. _

_He will live._

_Thank you, because you will save more than your son that night._

The letter was unsigned. When she tried to take the letter out of the washroom, it folded up and the ink disappeared. When she was alone again the writing would return. She hid away the letter in her bureau and the day that she saved Harry Potter came sooner, rather than later. Narcissa returned the letter to its place in her robes and refastened her blonde hair on the crown of her head with an ornate clip and apparated to the Manor. The letter never tore to pieces like she had figured it would after that deed was done. It was now in this particular situation that she considered using the advice again.

Lucius was up to something. He was his old self again. He was taking business fire-calls late at night. He was speaking to ex-death eaters. Narcissa looked into her son's eyes as he took his mother's cloak and erupted in plans for his birthday social. He offered his arm to her and they walked into Narcissa's reading room, like they had so very often. She let her son chat at her, while she mulled over that night a few days ago when Lucius hadn't come to bed. She clasped her white hands together and offered Draco her fullest attention. At least he was taken care of should anything terrible happen again. Draco never liked to look at such "meaningless" things, such as the idea of her passing, and there was no use in making him uncomfortable. Lucius may try and keep this out of the home for some time longer. Maybe she was being paranoid. She looked at the scars from her Unbreakable Vow with Potter on her right hand nonchalantly and thought over the events of the day. Why would her husband ask her to find someone to care for Draco if he intended to do as much? A Black never puts all of her stones in one pile. In case Lucius' plan to protect their son failed, or if there was any foul play there, she decided to speak with Andromeda as well. They had made owl correspondence since the end of the war, simply to cover bases and try and make amends. It was not until today that she'd gone so far as to actually see her sister in person.

Narcissa knew it was a weakness to allow Andromeda to know her secrets, yet she was tired of hiding them all. It paid off to confide in 'Dromeda, since she had someone outside of Lucius' sphere-of-influence when she really needed something. Draco crossed his arms and put his ankle on his knee. "Are you even listening, Mother?" Narcissa coughed lightly and had to admit she had lost him somewhere back at Miss Parkinson. Her son simply smirked at her playfully and gave a long-suffering sigh. "Haven't had your afternoon tea yet, I see. I think I will have to agree with Father that you become a little unfocused without your Earl Grey in the afternoon." He snapped and Draco's house elf brought tea for the both of them. Her son started in on his guest list once more and she listened with interest this time, trying to put aside the feeling of betrayal she felt for Lucius. It was possible she was just being paranoid after all. Maybe it would take hours for someone to catch wind of what Lucius was doing. Or maybe he would never be found out. Whatever was done had already been done and there was no use harboring over the past. She found herself smiling over an incorrigible joke that Draco had made over giving pity invitations to the Weasley family. She knew she shouldn't encourage him, but she also knew she did not know what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

Back to 1978

Hermione put her hundredth charm on the letter and when she was satisfied, she used a barn owl from the Tower to send it off to the breakfast table. There was no doubt she was the slightest bit nervous that something would go wrong, but she had to try and preserve their future, change as much as she could, without changing serious events. She must have rewritten Narcissa's letter hundreds of times last night. She rang her blue cloak with her hands as she watched the owl go. She took a deep breath and decided that she couldn't change it now, if she wanted to. It would be best to move on.

The sunrise was magnificent from the view, yet it held little beauty for someone who forgot to sleep. Hermione was proud of herself, though. She had finished correcting all of her sixth years' student work and she was halfway through her seventh years' essays. She had sent a letter to make sure what Narcissa does for Harry in the future, still happens. That makes for an eventful evening. There were two hours left until class with her first years and she might as well tuck into a reread of _Pride and Prejudice_. Satisfied with her idea, she headed directly toward her chambers. She avoided the bright sunrise seeping through the hallways, certain now that if the sun saw her, it would rise faster. Hermione delved into her tiny pile of muggle books that she picked up from London on an afternoon off. She took the book off the top of the wobbly stack at the foot of her bed. As she settled in under her duvet, she imagined her parents' faces. When she was still in primary school, her mum used to read her all sorts of books. Perhaps that was why she loved books so much. All of the memories of her parents weaved in her mind around the spines of books. The very last book her father read her was _A Doll House_ around Christmas. It suited him, since he enjoyed the more north European outlook on life. He liked Ibsen, but _Crime and Punishment_ was her dad's favorite. Her mum was much more of a romantic and around the time that she received her acceptance letter for Hogwarts, they were finishing _Sense and Sensibility_. They had read all of the other Jane Austen books together, but her mum wanted to "save the best for last" as it were. Hermione never quite understood how her mum could favor that book over the one in her hands. She tucked into the book once more as if it were a good meal.

Before she knew it, the book ended with just half an hour before class. Satisfied to have stolen a few moments for herself, she readied for her lesson on 'Protego.' She taxed a muffin from the kitchens and was in class with a cup of strong coffee, provided by Sprout. If someone ever took something from Sprout, they never should expect to get just a cuppa. She would have to make herself a ginger tea later, to negate all the coffee she had been drinking lately. She went through a little known passage, being short on time and instantly wished she hadn't. Remus and Sirius were blocking the end of the passage. Their eyes were on her instantly and upon seeing Remus' face in particular, she felt guilty. Sirius wagged his eyebrows, while Remus frowned. Hermione worked past them as they made room. "Going to class gentlemen?" Hermione asked to fill the silence. Sirius nodded with his cheesy expression plastered on and Remus turned away as she made her way out.

Sirius spied Remus watching her as she left out of the corner of his eye. Sirius huffed loudly and leaned against the wall of flattened stone. "So tell me, what happened, Moony?" He asked as matter-of-factly as he could. He didn't want to pressure Remus just in case he wasn't quite ready yet, so Sirius slid down the wall into a sitting position. His friend did the same on the opposite wall of the passage. It was dim now that Hermione had gone, but still they were close enough to the door to make out Remus' expression from the light from the narrow crack in the portrait and its' frame.

"I told her I liked her." Sirius gave him another minute and when he did not continue, Sirius cracked his knuckles to delay.

"I suppose you're upset then that she rejected you?" Sirius replied simply, readying for some terrible outburst on Remus' part or the like. There was none.

Remus' voice sounded hesitant when he replied, as if unsure of himself. Sirius didn't like the sudden tone Remus was taking on. "It's because I'm…because of my furry problem." Sirius saw Remus' vulnerability then, as if it hadn't been prevalent throughout the day. Sirius merely raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Are you serious, Moony? Have you thought this through?" He offered, renewing his 'lumos' with his next breath. Remus looked suddenly quite offended, and crossed his arms to match him.

"I'm not, Sirius. However, I know exactly what I'm talking about." Remus said carefully, as if he was trying the keep humor in his voice.

"Look mate, if Herm-" He looked quickly back and forth in the passage. "If she is your bloody wife, you think she is going to be upset about that?" Remus looked suddenly deflated. It was evidence that he really had let his insecurities get in the way of a clear mind, again. The last girl didn't even know about his condition yet, and Remus had been up in arms about how someone could ever like him, much less get involved with him. That problem resolved itself in due time. It seemed Remus liked Hermione a great deal than that simple crush this time. "Once more, do you even _remember _what kind of trouble she'll get in if she were to say yes to you? You ridiculous pillock!" Remus looked as if he had been slapped across the face with reason. Remus put his hands behind his head and leaned against the wall.

"I s'pose I hadn't thought on it that way. But, you think you are so bleeding brilliant. Sirius, you don't have worry about having it on with some girl. Do you know what-"

Sirius cut him off by raising his hand and rolling his eyes at him. "Do I know what it is like to have to worry about eating a groovy witch? Nope, I can't say that I do. But, I can tell you I do worry about really being serious with one someday. I'd have to worry instead about whether or not my mum will be out to spoil her name or summit. I know that those aren't even close to comparison, but the point is that everyone has something that they are insecure about. If some lady can see you despite it, isn't she worth it? So Remus, mate- stop inserting your furry problem into a situation that just isn't about you. Merlin's beard, you can be so self-centered sometimes."

Remus rolled his eyes and moved to punch him hard on the shoulder. "I can't believe you just turned it around to how self-centered I might be." Sirius laughed his bark-like laugh

"Did it work to make you realize how much of a tosser you've been?" Sirius asked smiling. Remus considered for a bit, as if mulling it over in his mind. "I can't believe you're thinking about whether or not you're a tosser." Remus punched him again. They both knew that wasn't what he was thinking on at all. "Right, now that you're done with all this self-loathing, let's bunk off toward the pitch. James said he'd be there a little later."

They both stood and Remus followed after Sirius down the hall. "I'll go with as long as we nick some food from the kitchens, I'm bloody well starving." Sirius barked again at the comment and they went a short distance before ducking into another passage toward the kitchens.

* * *

Remus was a spectacular student once more. The day that Hermione crossed Sirius and Remus in the passage, he had turned up with the rest of his pack, positively radiating collectedness in class. His cool expression when he made eye contact with her in class was magnetic and Hermione did her utmost to not forget what she was saying. Still she carried on and he offered his two cents often, when the class was stumped by questions on the reading. This was better than she had hoped for. He could be his cunning and fit self around her once more without any awkwardness on his part. She could not say the same on herself. Hermione found her eyes wandering to his form more than anyone else's as they did their quizzes. As the week went on, Hermione became increasingly vexed with herself for her lack of propriety. In her rooms, she relived the time in the carriage toward Hogsmeade. She relived those stolen moments and those accidental touches. When had she become so very taken with Remus Lupin? Hermione took an extra glass of wine one evening and tried to remember. Hermione sat on her bed with her back against the wall and holding onto the glass of zinfandel like a life-preserver. Carefully, she retraced her steps around Remus in the last couple months. After thinking it through over and over again, with no clue as to when she cast her eyes on the parchment that had her list on it. Hermione polished off the glass and set it on the desk. Hermione slapped her hand to her face tiredly as Harry's familiar voice came to her.

"I kinda liked Draco at first, probably because I knew I shouldn't. It grew from there. Now, I know for sure that I really, really couldn't stop it."

Hermione hid her face in her cool pillow and breathed out. She liked Remus because he was there for her. She liked him because he was everything she looked for in a man. And she liked him, because she really, really shouldn't.

It was then that she heard a bang at her door. When there was no subsequent noise she got up to investigate. Hermione opened the door carefully and there, magically tacked to the door, was a thin strip of parchment. She pulled it off and looked around. There was no one in sight. She unfolded the halved note and it simply said,

_Thanks for the help._

_-R.A.B._

Hermione came unhinged then. Quickly she disappeared in her room, locking the door behind her. It was terrible, so terrible because she knew that that young man would never come back from this mission. He was an eerie aristocrat who could have had so much more in store for him and here she was feeding him his death. Hermione tried to blink away tears. She was sending kids to their death and she was a home-wrecking bint. This situation was a bleeding mess, in its entirety. Urging herself to think rationally, she got a hold of herself and crossed to her paper. She stuck the note to it and crossed his name off the list. It was not as if she could stop some things from happening. Regulus was tied inextricably to the end of that locket. He was part of Voldemort's demise. Yet, as she looked at these names on the list, she wondered. She never believed in any of that hocus-pocus that Trelawney spat out, simply because people always made their own destinies. Now, it was a bit tougher to make that her reasoning when she was pushing people in certain directions. Then again, she never gave Regulus an ultimatum. She simply provided him with information. It was always up to him how he would deal with it. Besides that, Remus was of his own freewill. He would still choose Tonks in the future. She would just have to make sure that he knew that her younger self could never- Hermione smacked herself. Was she actually justifying a relationship with Remus? No, that was something she would _not _be acting on. Frustrated with herself, she decided she'd hit the showers and tuck herself in early.

Remus followed Sirius into Hermione's office first thing in the morning on the last day of April, just a couple of hours since R.A.B decided to go pinning a note to her door. Sirius had his arms crossed paired with an expression that looked completely out of place on his face. The heaviness of guilt this brother felt for his younger brother, looked horrible on him. Remus closed the door behind them as the two of them entered the office. Remus simply leaned against the door, his careful charm at work. Although, he smiled at Hermione with genuine care he was obviously more worried about Sirius' situation. Sirius told her that his brother had run off somewhere. He said that he was certain Regulus was working with You-Know-Who and that he wasn't there to talk any sense into him. Hermione listened carefully and found she was speechless. What was there to say to something like this? She settled for apologizing profusely and when Sirius looked like he was embarrassed at the amount of emotion he was putting forth to get such a stale answer from her, she leaned close and beckoned him closer as well. She whispered, "You may never see it that way Sirius, but your brother does good in the end." Unsure of whether or not she had made a mistake by telling Sirius, she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her sore neck. Sirius looked at her with utter confusion on his features. She simply nodded at him and it reassured him. He muttered a quick "thanks" and was gone in a heartbeat. It was obvious he was not the best with emotions that were his own.

The door shut behind Sirius with a quiet click and Remus just stood casually against the door, loosening his Gryffindor tie and muttering something about the heat that Hermione hadn't quite caught. Hermione watched the motion of his hands, entranced for a moment. It was hot in here. "It was good of you to reassure him, Hermione. Sirius is a good man and I think only someone like you would know the right answer to something he has worried about for quite some time. He worried about his brother. He worries that he abandoned him to his mum. He thinks it is his fault sometimes. Just like how I think it is my fault that I…" Remus paused and cast a muffliato on the door. "That I'm afflicted with lycanthropy."

Hermione stood, feeling a bit anxious that she was in this quieted room, intimately with the one she was hoping to avoid for much longer. Remus crossed around the desk and stood closely to her now. He had been chewing on spearmint gum not too long ago. The mint weaved into her mind and nailed her to her spot. "I have been silly to imagine that you wouldn't be clever enough to see past my lycanthropy. It is my fear, my affliction. But Hermione-"

He took her hands in his and she flushed instantly. His fingers were hot on hers and she knew she should stop him, but she could not. He was radiating that same dominance again. Was it already time for the full moon? April had gone so fast. Still she was frozen to her spot. She looked up into his eyes and he was staring at her possessively. "I believe that you would agree that my furry problem is not my fault. In the same way, it is not our fault that we are attracted to each other." Hermione's breath caught in her throat and if she had control of her body, she would be fanning herself from the heat that was filling this room. It was stifling. Then, she didn't know how it happened. In one moment, his eyes were boring to hers and then the next he was kissing her hard. His hand was removed from hers as his fingers wrapped around the back of her neck to keep her in place for a moment. Then, it was over so quickly. She wondered if it was imaginary. At least she kissed the daydream back. Hopefully. Otherwise, it would have been a terrible waste of a dream. Hermione blinked and he was still there, holding her two hands in his once more. He looked at her with a wide grin on his face and stepped away. Hermione felt like she had a fever and when her feet returned to her she fell into her chair to avoid from going weak in the knees.

"I know you are not able to approve of this. I know it was a blatant disregard for your position. I know that you can't tell me anything about the future and I know that you will leave someday. I know that what happened right now will remain a secret, even to Sirius. I know that if I didn't kiss you, I would regret it." Remus checked off each point on his fingers. He paused and looked at her for a beat.

"I also know that I graduate in one month and four days. No repeats will happen until then. Then, there are no promises." Remus was gone out the door a split second later. Hermione covered her face that she was certain, couldn't be redder. After a bout of hyperventilating, she took a nice turn toward a cold shower. She had never imagined Remus to be so dominant. He seemed almost wild when he looked her in the eyes before kissing her. He was disguised as a handsome, intelligent gentleman with a secret penchant for a need to dominate. Hermione threw out the things she knew about Remus Lupin, right there. She knew she really, really shouldn't like him. It grew from there.


	10. A Gentleman and an Aristocrat

Disclaimer: I do not own or stake any claim in the massiveness of the fortune that is trademarked with J.K Rowling or Warner Bros. I don't expect to gain anything from this story, except many hours of procrastination from my schoolwork, possibly reviews, and certainly many hours of lost sleep.

AN: I apologize that it has been three months since my last update. Well, this chapter is a great bit longer than all of the previous ones so at least you have that to look forward to. I expect there will be only a handful of chapters to go before I finish _Reminiscent _and move on to _Blind. _The next chapter is actually about to go into beta, so if I get another couple reviews to boost my morale I'm sure you'll be getting sooner rather than later.

Thanks Jess, for beta-ing as always and thanks to you who is either reading this for the first time or returning to see the next installment.

To Smeg Head and SB01: thanks for some truly inspiring reviews.

I am aware that this chapter is lengthy, but stick with it! There is a lot of plot points and then the second-half is something I think all of you will enjoy. If you're reading this I want to hear your lovely opinions!

* * *

Hermione looked out over her class of fifth years who all had their head down, practically crying over their essays. It was necessary, but apparently her students did not agree with her. How were they ever to pass their O.W.L's without practicing essay-writing? A few of the Hufflepuffs were looking up every few moments to signal their anxiety about this exam. It gave her more reason to let the exam go on. It would not be possible to ask the exam-instructor for help. The fifth years had had three different professors for DADA and that meant they were extremely weak in a few subjects and surprisingly advanced in others. This was all crash course review anyway. It allowed her to go over the problems that the majority of the class was having trouble with. As the silence continued on, Hermione looked over her grades for the class. She would have to arrange mandatory study sessions for the students who were doing 'poor' and 'troll' in her class. It would not be her fault that they failed on the O.W.L's. As she made a neat list of the names on a clean piece of parchment, her mind wandered. Wandered to the hot hand on the back of her neck and that fiery kiss he had bestowed upon her.

It was about then that she reminded herself she was a terrible person. How did she end up in such a situation? A student had kissed her, right there in her office. Her eyes glanced to the door that seemed to be etched with guiltiness. If her subconscious was able to do things without her hands stopping them, there would be GUILTY written in red lettering all over that damned door. She hated herself for letting him kiss her and she hated herself more for kissing him back. He was a bloody married man. He had a kid. He was dead.

Hermione paused and looked away from the door and over at her students. The Ravenclaws had finished already and she gave them a proud smile. She made an announcement to excuse anyone who had finished early. As predicted, all the Ravenclaws, the majority of the Slytherins, and a few Gryffindors crossed to her desk immediately. They seemed happy to be free. About a quarter was left of her students as she looked down at her papers again. She decided to send out the notes of the 'troll' and 'poor' students over breakfast tomorrow. The ache of 'Remus' and 'dead' in the same sentence, even if it was never spoken out loud, hurt her. She would save him if she could. But, it still didn't make it right that she should be involved with someone that had a family. Then again, he didn't have one yet. Hermione tucked in an askew chair in the back row with the flick of her wand more harshly then she should. She spent more time thinking about Remus then she ever thought of Ron. Maybe it was because Ron was always there. Hermione was fed up with herself. She shouldn't be so interested in Remus like the schoolgirls she was teaching.

As the last few worn looking students trickled away from their scribbled messes, Hermione saw the stout form of Peter Pettigrew push past the two final Hufflepuffs crowding the doorway. He seemed smug about something and if there was one thing she had learned about Pettigrew since she had come to this place was that Peter had absolutely no reason to be smug- ever. Yet, he crossed to the front of her desk with the sort of brisk movement and bright smile that made her feel a chill deep in her bones. He handed her a smoothed out essay and thanked her so soundly, she began to wonder if this was some scheme.

"Thank you so much for letting me turn this in late. Things get a bit stressful around this time of the month." It was a sickening feeling in her stomach that made her think too long about his smile and how terribly crooked and malicious it looked. She smiled back in an instant, pouring teacherly concern into her smile, while trying to mask the jolt of anxiety she felt.

Then, James was standing there in the hall with his hands on his hips like some hero from an action comic. Peter's smile faded instantly. He looked over his shoulder at James and then back at her. He smiled at her again and then winked at her. Wormtail took his sweet time walking past James and dawdled down the hall, probably hoping to find out some little tidbit of information. Prongs adjusted his glasses and gestured for Hermione to follow him.

"Professor Quirrell has returned. Dumbledore requested you visit his office as soon as possible." James added professionally as she followed him. There up ahead, Hermione saw one of the scariest things she had seen in quite a few years. Wormtail was there at the end of the hall talking in hushed tones to Narcissa Black. Narcissa gave her a measured gaze over the shoulder of her informer and they continued down a parallel hall. James crossed his arms.

"It is quite all right, Mr. Potter, you can continue your duties. I will be just fine walking myself to Albus' office." James looked grateful, his circle-glasses glinting from the sunlight flooding the windowsills. He gave her a mischievous smirk before he disappeared into a passage nearby, behind a bowl of fruit still-life. Hermione tried not to think about what kind of trouble he was going to get into with the Head Boy badge pinned proudly to his chest.

She understood how Remus must have felt knowing that Harry, Ron, and she were running around with the cloak and map third year. She tried not to think of such bodice-ripping fantasies such as an invisibility cloak, a half naked Remus and her in just his Oxford-collared shirt combined. She needed to quit or go to prison, or both. First and foremost, he was double her age, but he never kissed her before either. Hermione rounded the final flight of the moving staircases pausing only momentarily to be connected to the correct floor. As she stood in front of the statue hiding Dumbledore's office from view, she pent up a breath and released it slowly. As she let out the air, with it she rid herself of daydreams that ended with busted buttons on the carpet discarded from her least favorite blouse.

"Quirinus, here she is now. This is Hermione." She felt slightly awkward being pulled in through the threshold; the flights of fancy melted away as she was brought into the familiar office, her former Defense professor eyed her carefully. He looked less anxious than she had ever seen him. He was absent of his purple turban that she had known him for and when he greeted her, he did not stutter even once. Hermione shook hands with him and looked at Dumbledore awkwardly as if she was unsure what came next. Dumbledore crossed behind his desk and offered them both seats that zoomed into place from across the room. Quirrell looked happy. He looked brighter in the eyes than she had ever seen him. Maybe it was his rich blue and gold robes. They were fetching on him, or perhaps it was the fabric itself. The fabric looked like silk, like it would have come fresh out of the _1000 Arabian Nights_. Dumbledore cleared his throat and spying a glance at Quirrell's face, he was thankfully not looking at her, but at Fawkes who was chirping gleefully across the room. They snapped to attention a second later and Dumbledore gave them both his charming grin.

"Hermione has been covering Galatea's space, since you took your sabbatical." Hermione looked over at Quirrell, confused for all the world.

"Really! Well, I do apologize, Miss Granger. Albus told me that he hadn't exactly explained why my absence should have anything to do with Merrythought's position." Quirinus offered, looking at her as if he had some sort of joke on his mind.

"It is actually that, well-" Quirrell started, but Albus continued for him.

"Galatea has been out since the beginning of the year, recovering from a Horntail's bite. Quirinus was kind enough to help me with her Defense classes while he took care of his Muggle Studies. It was lucky you came along to help ease the burden, Hermione. I'm glad you took some time though, Quirinus you were looked quite anxious there before Yule Tide."

Quirrell just smiled at the sentiment before nodding to Hermione amicably. "What we are getting at here Miss-may-I-call-you-Hermione?"

With a slight nod from Hermione, he patted down his wavy chocolate hair and looking at Dumbledore reassuringly he continued on, "Well Hermione, we were wondering if you were still planning to stay until graduation?" He paused and waited.

Without missing a beat, Hermione nodded. She knew what they were playing at then. Their jobs had them both at capacity and then eyeing Dumbledore carefully she rethought her last. Dumbledore could probably take more than a few jobs on his shoulders without any issue. Without this job to keep her busy, she would be going absolutely insane with all the free time. It was always hard to pin down the true character of a person, especially someone like Dumbledore. As she left the two wizards moments later, she realized how much she had really grown since the war. She was young then; a world in turmoil calls for one to believe that their side is all good and that the opposing side is bad. If she had given pause to the character of the key players in the plot, would things have changed? That was a silly question. To have blinded followers was Dumbledore's greatest weapon. Harry could have had hours, days, and months if he had known the whole story, to consider his death. Dumbledore relied on Harry's moral fiber and Gryffindor brashness to make sure that Harry would save us all. The Dumbledore she saw in the room just a few minutes ago had many layers.

Hermione let her fingers run beside her on the stone wall in an abandoned hallway toward her room. It would be lunch soon, but she didn't feel like eating. Dumbledore would be there in the Great Hall as well. It was easy to be disillusioned and ignorant of a person's character. After having read _The Life and Times of Albus Dumbledore _and finally seeing him again face-to-face, Hermione wondered if she had idolized him all along. A younger Hermione had always seen Dumbledore as the most powerful wizard she knew, but now he was essentially flawed. From the littlest dialogue over a teaching role, to plotting his own death, Hermione realized everyone had a part of his plan. It made sense then that Dumbledore should hold the utmost importance in well-meaning and intention.

The time up through the N.E.W.T.S and the graduation ceremonies passed in the blink of an eye. Hermione did not see much of James or Sirius in the last weeks of their schooling, but she did see Remus here and there. What truly vexed her was the heavy amount of time she noticed Wormtail skulking about. She noticed not only an increase of Peter wandering about, but several uncomfortable moments of odd scratching sounds coming from her rooms late at night. A mouse could fit through almost any hole, keyholes not being one of them. Yet, opposable thumbs were better at that. So, Hermione made her list unreadable to anyone but her. Paranoia was a feeling she had never really found succor in. Peter Pettigrew was the sort of person that when he was being truly sneaky he asked no questions, simply watched. Hermione found it almost offensive that he should believe himself sneaky. Even a dementor could have been subtler. He would skulk down the halls just out of her gaze, following her every movement. The final ceremonies had wrapped for the seventh years and they had an extra two days after the school had left for the summer to have a farewell luncheon and have time to snap magical pictures and the like. Still Peter pursued.

It took every sickle of conscience that Hermione had left to not turn and snatch up that irritating rustling that was following her and throw it into the Black Lake. It was one of her greatest pet peeves intensified. Irritating enough was the idea of someone reading over her shoulder, but this was a constant in every second of her life. She could, naturally, tell no one, since it would disrupt the bloody universe. Whenever she saw the other parts that made up the group, Hermione just wanted to scream out exactly what Mr. Pettigrew should be pitched out for. Of course, she never did succumb. Peter's constant pestering would end soon enough, considering school's end was so close. She hastened it.

Remus, Sirius, and James did notice their companion's strangeness and closeness to Hermione of late, but besides some good jokes here and there, they did not investigate further. Pettigrew always came out harmless after all.

* * *

As promised, Remus was scarce for the remainder of the school year. The Express had been packed with all the graduates' things and Hermione felt a hint of jealousy as she watched James and Lily zap their year into a stone as many classes had before them in the Great Hall walls. She never had the chance to zap or even watch as it were. At least, not properly. The ritual ended and all the former students left the Great Hall, some reminiscent, others somber. All of them filed out and feeling Peter's eyes on her once more, she stood without hesitation, her eyes moving markedly from their target on Remus' back. Before half of the students had gone, Hermione had too.

She was in her room packing the few things she had accumulated into a trunk. If the castle was going to be empty, there was no point in staying here after all. She would follow up on the people of her list. She felt she should drop the letter to Fred Weasley, personally. Who knows who could be intercepting owls these days. Satisfied with her plan, even if it was the tiniest of one, she pushed into her office to collect the stack of books she had left on her desk. There on top of her stack was a bright green one that she hadn't remembered picking up for herself. Looking around, she locked the door and plugged the hole underneath. Feeling the slightest bit better, she made a careful glance over her shoulder and then sat in her cushioned chair. It was a copy of _Through the Looking Glass_. She opened the cover carefully and a smile crossed her face in an instant. Remus' handwriting was on the inside cover.

_My muggle father read this to me when I could not read for myself. I told him I couldn't read something like Alice in Wonderland because that was for sissies. So he read this to me because a fight between chess pieces and cards is much better._

Hermione settled into her chair and started reading Remus' copy directly. It wasn't too long before she found an underlined word. She made note of it and moved on and before long another underlined word would pop up. Curious, she flipped through the pages and wrote her findings on a spare bit of parchment.

_Dear Alice,_

_Meet this Hatter at eight this night and we can discuss why a Raven is like a Writing Desk-_

There was a bookmark on an illustration of the White Queen, just a Honeydukes sweet wrapper. Butterflies flooded her stomach almost as quickly as guilt. She was unsure if she could hate herself more for being so enamored with a someday-to-be-married man. How could someone ever turn this invitation down? She would have to be Voldemort himself to not feel for Remus Lupin after he had painstakingly gone through the trouble of sneaking his copy of a childhood book with certain underlined words, just to ask for her company. Oh yes, she had to go, even if she was going to rue her very existence when next she saw Teddy or Tonks. Merlin, if Remus and his future family did survive all this, there is no way she would ever show her face to them again. She gathered her books and took them to her room, taking great care to give _Through the Looking Glass_ the place of honor in her bag.

Feeling a sudden burst of nervousness, she looked around the room. The side table where she had normally kept her photo of Remus, Kingsley, and herself along with her list was left ajar. Hermione Granger never left things open if she could help it. Although it looked as if the inside was relatively untouched, she knew better. Happy she had concealed the blanked-out photo and list into her copy of _Paradise Lost_'s lining just that morning, she felt oddly relieved. She incinerated the parchment with Remus' note for good measure. Next, she would be warding her every step with a constant sweep of 'muffliatos.' Wait, that was just paranoid. Hermione took a deep breath and shut her sack with a sort of finality. She tried to ignore the rustling of rat's feet behind her as she looked out the window.

Crossing her arms over her chest to boost the feeling of security, her gaze caught a quick shot of the Giant Squid's tentacles coming out of the Black Lake for a split second. She was sure that creature knew the children were leaving for the summer. The rustling from behind her was silent and just a few moments later she figured out why. The train left promptly at three pm from the grounds and Hermione wished that her life had turned out that simple sometimes. But, Harry and Ron were her best friends and the three of them always seemed to have bigger fish to fry from the very beginning. As she looked out across the grounds, it was almost as if she could see the three of them trotting off to Hagrid's hut at a simpler time. Was time ever simpler? She missed Harry and her parents terribly. Although she would never admit it, she missed Draco too. How much would her tinkering change them?

As she watched the ghosts of her memories cross the grounds of her Alma Mater, she saw a young aristocrat with white-blonde hair cross toward the entrance hall from the Thestral-drawn carriage. She was struck with how much Lucius looked like Draco standing there, as if for all the world the most proud. Narcissa came out to meet him in the next moment. He offered his arm and handled her luggage magically into the carriage. There was someone else in the carriage. A lady's thin hand outstretched to greet Narcissa. Hermione felt a chill flow through her as she recognized them as Bellatrix Lestrange's. She wondered if she should be pleasantly surprised that the body that came out to meet her was not Lestrange's but some unfamiliar woman with hair matching Lucius'. The woman held Narcissa at arm's length for a moment and said something to Narcissa that made her straighten impossibly taller. Although she could not see Narcissa's gesture, the woman looked slightly put out and patted the young lady on the shoulder. The older woman disappeared in the carriage a moment later and Lucius helped her in. They shared a private moment, looking into each other regally before her face disappeared into the carriage looking sullen. Hermione figured that whatever news had come, it was bad, or Narcissa would have met her family like anyone else would have at King's Cross. The carriage moved with vigor and was out of sight in a few moments time.

Hermione remembered the last time she saw Draco looking so very proud as his father had, helping Narcissa into the carriage. She would always remember that day because it was the day she started to respect Draco, even the teensiest bit.

* * *

It was mid-January; a year after the war had ended. Hermione went over to 12 Grimmauld Place like she normally did on Thursday nights. When she let herself in, she found Draco Malfoy lounging on Harry's favorite loveseat next to the fire. Draco smirked at her and greeted her, although he did not stand. Instead he lay there slowly ripping page after page out of a book she could not catch the title of. Hermione was absolutely livid in that moment. What gall this asshat had to come into Harry's house and start ripping up his property as if he owned the bloody place. And of all the things to rip apart, it had to be a book. Draco seemed to notice when Hermione stayed glued to her spot on the threshold, eyeing him maliciously. Draco laughed and chucked the ripped pages into the fire before he continued. Hermione crossed her arms and laid a finger on her wand that was inside her left sleeve.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you are doing here? How dare you come to Harry's house completely uninvited- how the bloody hell did you even get here? Never mind that, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Hermione said through her teeth, grasping at the few straws left of her self-control.

"Well, Miss Granger, aren't you demanding? I know you are supposed to be bright and all, but really what kind of interrogation is this? Isn't it obvious what I'm doing?" He punctuated the end of his statement with another loud rip.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't jinx you into next week, Malfoy." Draco stood at that and approached her casually, as if the wand pointed at him was a bit of licorice.

"But there are so many, Granger. Let me just start with the most simple." He handed her the ruined book, the gilded handwriting of the title gleamed in the firelight.

**Harry Potter: A Hero or a Humiliation **

"Because it's a book no one in this house has a taste for. If there needs to be a reason number two, then I suppose I should mention that Harry likes that particular part of me that you have your wand pointed at. And if you need any further reasoning for why you shouldn't jinx me, then you should ask Harry if I had been welcomed here in the first place before you start attacking his date." Draco's voice sounded as cool as the Black Lake was around that time of year.

Hermione was still silent as she lowered her wand and turned a deep shade of red in embarrassment. Draco set the book on the back of the couch and offered his hand to shake. "Perhaps we should start anew, Granger?"

Hermione was hesitant and she could tell he had sensed it, even when she did shake his hand. He pulled her in and whispered into her ear, as if the room was full of people. "I've been dating him for some time Granger, and believe me, if I felt the same for Mr. Chosen One as I had once, then I wouldn't be here meeting his friends formally" He gave her a look that she was sure translated as an "obviously" in the Malfoy universe.

Then he added, "And don't you EVER tell him I said any of that rubbish." In the next moment, Harry entered, running his hand through his wet hair, anxiously. The rest of the evening went swimmingly, but not before she had found a new respect for Malfoy as he fed the remainder of the book about Harry to the flames.

* * *

Hermione packed the rest of her things into her bag for a week's worth of travel, trying to get her mind off of the people she was really getting homesick over. She was not positive where the week would take her, but she was sure where her first stop would be in just a few hours time.

Hermione took the one-eyed witch's passage to Honeydukes and she was not the slightest bit surprised to find Remus opening the door for her from the cellar. He offered her his arm as she witnessed him tucking a spare bit of parchment into his brown tweed jacket. It was strange to see the jacket that he had been wearing the day on the Express. It looked brand new and Hermione found herself touching the lapel of the tweed that she remembered as threadbare. Remus cleared his throat, his face red with bashfulness. Hermione stepped back and gave a little nervous chuckle. "Sorry, it's just a really nice jacket." Smooth opening line, right, good job being an idiot, Hermione.

"Hmm…really? You think so? Mrs. Potter gave it to me at the graduation ceremony. Actually, she gave me the whole suit, but I figured that would be too formal. Have you ever met James' parents?" Remus took her hand carefully in his and headed out of the dimly lit sweet shop. Now that they were passing through the shop, there were several boxes stacked on top of each other and the shelves were bare. Apparently Honeydukes packed up for the summer. Learn something new every day. It was humid out, really disgustingly humid and hot. She wondered how he could carry on wearing that lovely jacket when it was so muggy.

They were heading away from the town altogether before Hermione remembered to answer his question. His hand was getting clammy so she took his arm instead in one of her braver attempts. "I haven't met James' parents actually." She wondered what type of people they were. She wondered if they accepted Lily wholeheartedly. Then she stole a sideways glance to Remus' scarred face and she knew her answer. She thought on Sirius' family issues and she knew. James' acceptance of things that were not easy or people that did not uphold the 'old ways' had to come from someone. As she thought on Harry's grandparents she also absorbed the look of worry that was still imprinted on Remus' face. The look faded and it was replaced with a wide smile that looked good on him. They were in front of the Shrieking Shack now.

He asked her if it was okay that they should apparate and with a simple nod, they were in the little town that Godric's Hollow resided in. It was a completely different place since she had been here last. The shadow of James' house in its entire splendor completely dwarfed everything around it for miles. Remus pointed out the house and several other landmarks as they made their way out of this town, too. Just as she thought the road would end, he turned toward a very well lit café called _The Lotus Leaf_. So they were going to have Chinese. He led her into the crowded restaurant and did not pause for a second when it seemed too packed to even get by.

He just pulled Hermione closer, directing her with his hand on the small of her back toward the very back of the place and out onto the back patio. There was only one other couple here, completely enthralled in themselves to even know that Hermione or Remus existed. So they took their seats at the table farthest away from them. The table was a tall round one with tall chairs that looked like they had been taken from the bar inside. As soon as they sat, an extremely putout-looking waiter came by and laid the menu on the table. He nodded at them and then he retreated back into the bustling center of the dining room. Hermione shrugged her shoulders when Remus looked over his shoulder at the waiter's retreating back. Remus just smiled again and he patted her hand across the table.

"Glad you're not impatient like James seems to be every time we come here. I think he forgets that this place is the only one in town whose food is any good. Well, this and the bakery, but they really are more of a breakfast sort of thing." He offered her the menu and crossed his arms. "I come here too much. Seti already knows what I want."

It was hard for Hermione to focus on the menu, rather than look at the view. Had there always been a lakeside view from Godric's Hollow? She was uncertain. It was dark enough now that the stars were reflecting onto the small lake and then when she did rip herself away from the amazing view, she had another one just over the top of her menu. It was obvious that Remus was trying not to stare and she hoped to anything that was listening that she didn't have something on her face. Nervous suddenly with the butterflies filling her stomach, Hermione found the menu plenty interesting. When she had decided on the Moo Goo Gai Pan, she shut her menu and set it aside, her red face absorbed with the shut of her menu.

"What are you having?" Remus asked curiously, looking a little more than slightly amused. She named her choice and noticed that he had removed his brown jacket, now it was on the back of his chair. He was rolling up his sleeves. With interest he mentioned that dish was Mrs. Potter's favorite as well.

"Do you take anything with your tea?" He asked as the waiter, now known to Hermione as 'Seti' trudged back over to them, a fresh stain on his red apron.

"Just Ginger," Hermione offered feeling relieved when Remus started ordering for her. His hand found hers across the table and her eyes flickered away from Seti to watch Remus give her a glance out of the corner of his eye.

The dinner went smoothly from then on and he asked her a billion questions, none of them on things that she was sensitive on. Remus should have received a medal for that accomplishment. Hermione knew he wanted to ask the questions she would definitely be asking if things were reversed, but he was certainly a gentleman. They exchanged ideas on their favorite books and Remus shared on his best mates. Hermione was unsure that she ever really needed to know that Sirius still sucks his thumb when he falls asleep after having one too many. She found out about Remus' ambition to become an apprentice to Ollivander. Apparently he was fascinated in wand-making techniques, but he said he saw himself only staying there for so long.

"After all, once any business finds out about my furry little problem, how can I expect them to keep me?" Hermione just shook her head at his insecurity and Remus raised his eyebrows excitedly. She did not want to give Remus false hope but perhaps it was better to not look so negatively at his future. After all Dumbledore hired him knowing that he was a werewolf all along. He did_ only_ teach a year. Looking at him over her teacup she was uncertain of what his future held before his year at Hogwarts. Did he ever get to apprentice with Ollivander? Did he have girlfriends? She did not know the answers to these questions and for once she was happy she did not. A good man always had a little bit of mystery to him and in Remus' case, it was certain she knew precious little.

"Well, if it counts for anything, I would hire you." Hermione said finally and he replied by drawing circles with his thumb on the back of her hand. He gave her a lopsided smile and then glanced out across the small lake once more.

"I think that we can safely assume that you think differently than the rest of the world, Hermione." He brought her hand to his lips and with a tinge of red on his face, he brushed his lips against her knuckles. "I cannot say even I would have the same brave nature as you do if the tables were turned." A tinge of guilt touched his voice. Feeling weightless from that compliment she found the courage to intertwine her fingers with his on the table.

"I doubt that, Remus." Hermione said simply, lifting her tea to her lips for another sip.

"Really, you think so?"

"A person does not know what they can handle until it comes toward them head on. For example, you can practice a patronus, but it isn't until you truly need to use it, do you realize that you can be proficient at the charm." That got a chuckle and Hermione smiled too, when she realized exactly how teacher-like that last expression must have sounded.

"Some would rather avoid any with lycanthropy altogether, I would expect." Remus countered.

"Yes, and let such a good mind and able hands go to waste? I think not." Hermione replied just as quickly. Her face went red at her words almost instantly, begging secretly that he wouldn't let on to that comment. Of course, he did. Remus flushed, but refrained from commenting.

They ended up on the lakeside not long after dinner and Hermione's heart sunk. She could not remember ever being on a lovelier date or being so very attracted to a single man. Any formality of the first date that she felt with Remus was in areas that she implied that he keep his distance. He never asked on things about his future, instead he asked on her profession. Instead of asking about how she got here, he asked her on books. She really did enjoy her time with him, even though it was obvious he was positively bursting with questions, he kept them contained. They laid back and he complimented her on her white blouse with the lace on the collar. Then, when she considered asking him about her skirt as well, she was reminded of how exceptionally female that question would be. So she refrained and he asked her on "Ronny and Harold." She chatted to him, her eyes on the stars. It was all too soon that Remus gathered up his coat from the grass and offered his arm. At the gate of Hogwarts, he paused and she did not really want to let him go. So they chatted for an hour longer and when he finally said "goodnight," he started to lean in.

Before Hermione really considered what she was doing she grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him hard. She could feel his hands staking claims on the small of her back. The kiss was hard at first then it turned wild. His fingers were twisting in her hair and his tongue plunging deep into her mouth. All Hermione could think of was how amazing a kisser he was and how she could really get used to kissing him more often. She hoped that there would be a 'more often' to choose from. When he leaned her against the closest tree and stole a few kisses on her neck, she heard it. Amongst all the things in the world she wished to not hear at this moment, it was that. There was a rustling and then a squeak. Hermione carefully pulled away from Remus, his flushed face even from the poor light the Moon gave off was clear as day.

"I should get inside Remus, but-" Hermione tried in vain to catch her breath. She adjusted her white shirt and blue skirt before trying to continue. "Thank you for everything. I really enjoyed spending time with you tonight." She kissed his lips chastely and started for the gates.

"And the next time you go to that restaurant, tell Seti I said 'hi.'" She watched Remus' retreating back before he paused and looked over his shoulder.

"Can I firecall you?" Remus' eyes were even sparking from where she was standing.

Hermione laughed and nodded.

"Anytime you want." Hermione heard a light-hearted chuckle from him before a loud crack. She undid the gates' lock quickly, feeling someone's eyes on her back. She had no greater wish than to stun him into next Sunday, but that would mean that she would have to know his animagus form.

Feeling ridiculously paranoid she locked the gate, carried on up towards Hogwarts in a fast jog up the hill. She tried not to think about the young man who was just in the corner of her eye, beyond the gate.


	11. Time Before Sundown

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor would I ever claim to for fear of ending in the rotter. The books and the canon are owned by J.K, even if I wish she had thrown the seventh book away. Warner Bros has their hands in the movies and I suppose all the rest, which I dare never to contest.

AN: A big thanks to all those who have reviewed so far! It has been pretty ridiculous that even while I was busy doing other things I continued getting story and author-alerted for _Reminiscent _on a continuous basis. These reviews of yours have made me feel exceedingly guilty for not updating for so long. So I sent this to my beta and then got impatient for them to finish it. It is an exceedingly lengthy chapter by my standards so there are bound to be mistakes. Sorry for that. I wanted to say thank you personally for reviewing, especially you lurkers out there. Because it would take forever to write a review to all of the reviews I've received so far, I'm just going to reply to the last two chapters of reviews here and I do so solemnly swear to reply to my review from here on out. I have attached my responses to reviewers at the bottom.

* * *

Beginning of July and the morning light that was shining through Hermione's window was bright and exceedingly warm. Irritated by the intrusion of her sleep, she shifted at first to hiding her face beneath her duvet. When that proved too hot to be helpful, she regretfully sat up and opened her eyes. After adjusting to the brightness of her room, she looked around. Nothing was amiss from the night before, shy of one addition. There on the Floo's mantle was a fresh book on top of Slaughter House 5. Hermione rubbed her eyes, hoping that she would be lucky enough to spy the title from across the room. No such luck. The gilded letters of the edge of the book were being hit by the glare from the window and she would have to suffer the few steps it would take to satisfy her curiosity. Upon closer investigation, a fresh copy of _Antony and Cleopatra_ was in her hands. She hurried back to bed as if the excitement of having a book from Remus would wear off if she stood up for too long. As she had grown slowly accustomed, a note in Remus' cluttered hand adorned the inside cover of the book.

_Morning Hermione,_

_I was not ever very interested in much of Shakespeare's works. My father read plenty of him to me when I was young. The only two that I ever really liked enough to reread was this title and __**Hamlet**__. I had hoped you would not mind my dropping this off so very early. I just wanted to give this to you before Mr. Potter put me and the mates to work degnoming the garden. Don't worry, I'll treat them respectfully. I cannot say the same for Sirius and James though. They like to have tournaments. Petie asked on you again, I think you have some explaining to do. I'm kidding, love. _

_I had a talk with Dumbledore this morning. He asked about you as well. I think I have some explaining to do in that department. Don't worry, he wasn't at all vexed. He looked like he knew something I did not. But, then again he knows many somethings, I am sure. _

_Look at me rambling on, guess I'm just hopeful that you'll stop by today. Mr. and Mrs. Potter said they wanted to meet you. They're having lunch today at around one. Lils and Pete will be there. Just drop me a line if you can, Mrs. Potter in particular is extremely interested…_

_-Remus_

_P.S. I took the liberty of underlining a few of my favorite lines. I think you expected that. _

Hermione charmed the ink invisible instantly. These days she was careful that even the slightest note be hidden from view. It had been almost a month since Remus had taken her out for Chinese on the lakeside. She had been seeing him almost daily, since. She thumbed through the pages of the pewter colored book and found one of the underlined lines.

"The nature of bad news infects the teller. "

Leave it to Shakespeare to know so much more than he ever should. Then in spite of the irony of those words, Hermione laughed. She supposed that Remus had that same conclusion. Hermione had realized in the last month with Remus, that they often saw eye-to-eye on many things. The pair of them seemed to notice the smaller details together. She wished when she was with him, that she did not have to see the big picture as well. No matter how great of a time the two of them were having, her days were numbered in this place. She knew she was just a messenger of bad news in the end. Could she really look Remus in the face in the future, knowing that she did not save Tonks? She wished with all her heart that Remus could be there to raise Theodore. It just sat so heavy on Hermione's heart that someone should question her motives for saving him and not Tonks. Her conscience nagged at her stomach every time she kissed that same man.

Hermione closed the book and retreated to her desk. She had realized recently that it was not just her who was making the choice to be in this relationship. Doomed as it may be. Remus had once or perhaps twice _that_ say as she to the boundaries of this relationship. Maybe he didn't know this. She would have to have a serious conversation with him this evening. Yes, that was what she should do. Then he can decide, knowing all the limitations from her side where exactly this wasn't going. She sent a line to him through the floo to his apartment directly. Pushing that aside, Hermione warded her room from any pesky rats and pulled out her list. She had meant to go on a bit of a trip when school had let out, but Remus was just too distracting for all that. He made her really happy, if not exceedingly guilty to boot. There on the list was the name of one her dearest friends as it had been from the original date she had written the list.

'Fred Weasley'

She looked at the date on a quick 'tempus' and realizing that it was the night of the full moon. Worried, Hermione dressed quickly and went down to Slughorn's lab to check on her cauldron of Wolfsbane. Happy to see that it had come along, although she had momentarily forgotten it, she added the two sprigs of mistletoe with haste. She waved at Slughorn as he sleepily came out of his rooms in a yellow robe. She wondered if he knew that he looked rather ridiculous with purple ducks on his bathrobe.

"Ah, Miss Hermione, I see you've come down to check on your potion. You really must tell me what the properties of it are." Hermione sighed and removed a sickle from her pocket. She placed it in his hand and he smiled. "Or maybe you could tell me later."

"Thanks again for letting me use the cauldron space." Hermione gave him a warm smile and all but ran down the hallway. She had one hour until it would be ready for Remus and she hoped to drop off the letter she had written the night before in the letterbox at the Burrow. Hermione transfigured the necklace she was wearing into a watch with an hour on the clock she latched it to her wrist. She started directly toward the edge of the grounds and when she got there, she allowed herself a loud crack right into the edge of town with the Burrow just a stone's throw away. It felt a bit strange approaching the Burrow as it looked now. It did not have Ron's third story attached. There was no patching from the Second War. The Burrow as it was now, just seemed new and homely. Not the slightest feeling of threadbare or meager living looked like it took place within. Hermione opened her letter once more, maybe out of nerves.

* * *

"Look at this Freddie!" George bellowed as his twin jumped the last three steps at the Burrow. He handed the letter he had just smoothed out on his knee to his brother. "Mum, handed this to me before we went out to do Potterwatch."

"Another report card we hid from Mum?" Fred asked looking at the odd-colored envelope. George smirked and wiggled at his ear-hole with his finger from his free hand.

"I don't think so, but I tried to open it when she gave it to me and she said she had it for a long time. Give it a go." Fred ripped open the edge of it and pulled out the old-looking parchment.

It only unfolded once in his hand, just a short piece of parchment. Fred read it out loud to the brother who was trying to get a glimpse over his shoulder.

_"Dear Mr. Fred Weasley (and George too): You are two very brave men and I am happy to know you. But in order to keep a promise to myself I have to tell you this. You are leaving soon into a great battle. When Percy fights alongside you and makes a joke, I want you both to tackle him. I know how ridiculous you will find this, but it is of the utmost priority that you do just this. Just tackle him and welcome him back into the family. I would hate for you to lose more than an ear in the upcoming battle. _

_With love, A Concerned Friend._"

Fred looked up and his eyes met with his brothers. They both cracked a smile and laughed at the document, although they did not speak on it, they both believed. The thing that was perhaps the scariest was the date on the top left corner, "July 2nd , 1978." Fred pocketed the letter as they both started for the door. That was when Remus came bursting in. "Let's go boys, Death Eaters are attacking the castle. We're needed at Hogsmeade!" The three of them locked arms and descended into the heart of the battle.

* * *

After sealing the letter magically and time-stamping it until Fred was eighteen, she placed it in the post box at the end of the lane. She felt very silly as she stood there. Of course they would have a post box but would Mr. Weasley even know to look inside it. The poor aluminum box was full to the brim with old newspaper advertisements and muggles couldn't even tell that there was a house to the box could they? Hermione looked around. The lane that the Burrow was on was on the very outskirts of town and there were no muggle houses around it. Hermione discreetly conjured a little 'wingardum leviosa' and shot it toward the kitchen window. She wedged it in the frame a little and when the window squeaked open a bit, a figure with red-hair appeared at the window. Nervous, Hermione disapparated as the familiar face shot a glance at her.

After having acquired the Wolfsbane potion from the dungeons, she prepared for a bath. Hermione found herself feeling anxious to meet the Potters. She looked over her outfit of choice twice, as if the pink silk button down would suddenly be vexing to her eye. She decided it would be safer to pair it with a grey knee-length pencil skirt. She wondered if it would be too dressy for a meal with the Potters. Remus could have included some sort of clue as to what kind of atmosphere this was going to be. Taking a deep breath, she led herself away from the clothes that looked so threatening to her as they lay across the bed.

Nervous as hell, Hermione flooed into Remus' flat on the backside of Godric's Hollow. The familiar place went silent as the floo quieted. Remus wasn't here, she would have to just walk out there and march up the lawn to the front door, by herself. _Terrific_. Taking a deep breath and stopping quickly to look in the mirror for the twentieth time, she opened the door to the guest house only to find Remus walking in with his grey shirt slung over his shoulder and his jeans low on his hips. Sweat seemed to be pouring off him and he was a dream. She was absolutely sure of it. There were grass stains visible on the knees of his trousers and she smelled freshly cut grass coming off of him in waves. Remus pushed past her into the flat looking very worn, but very happy to see her. He bent down to kiss her lightly and started for the bathroom. "Sorry love, I'm running a bit late today. I had meant to be all washed up before you got here. I'm just going to pop into the shower if you don't mind waiting. I won't be offended if you want to go on up-"Remus' head popped out of the bathroom threshold to gaze at her. "I thought so. Besides I wouldn't want you up there on your own looking that ravishing with all twenty of Sirius' tentacles at the ready."

Blushing furiously Hermione searched for the book Remus had given her this morning in a bag she had rigged up like her beaded one. When she had found it, she seated herself on his ugly brown sofa. Looking around the sparse room, it was strange how quickly she had gotten used to this place. It always smelled like moldy parchment in his front room, something he promised the Potters he'd fix as penance for living there. Remus told her the first time she had ever sat on the tired couch that it was actually the crawl-space in the small shack that needed repaired. She wondered if she would be around long enough to be use to Remus when he stripped the Victorian-era wallpaper that was missing in places, for a fresh coat of paint. She followed one of the more horrible strips of wallpaper to the water-closet door with her eyes. She had used his bathroom several times and it was the only thing he had gotten around to renovating to something remotely modern. The marble counters and maroon shower curtain seemed out of place in such a wreck of a place. Had he left the door ajar for a reason? She imagined briefly what would happen if she just walked right in. Her cheeks flushing red, Hermione used her resolve to look down at the book in her hands.

After a few minutes into the play, Hermione was effectively able to distract herself from Remus' pale skin and smattering of chest-hair drenched in sweat. But when she heard the shower stop during one of Antony's lines, she became terribly interested in the bathroom door that was_ not_ on her page. Hermione tried in vain not to look up as he exited the bathroom toward his bedroom with a green towel wrapped around his hips. Remus looked the slightest bit smug when she caught a glimpse of his face. From the bedroom, Remus called out, "You look really interested in the play I gave you. How far along are you?"

Hermione wondered if he was having her on at first, but she looked down and called out the line she was on and the scene she was in. It was a second before he replied, Hermione imagined him working a pair of jeans up his long legs. "Not as far as I imagined you being. Did you sleep in? Bloody well know you need it." Hermione laughed.

"Are you barking, Remus? You're the one who looks like they have been slaving away. I haven't done a single thing since school ended."

"As it should be." Hermione thought on that for a moment. It was incredibly old-fashioned to think that way and she wondered if he believed in chauvinism even the slightest sense.

Then he continued, "I'm certain that you work way too much in our future. This should be a vacation for you. Besides, I didn't do all that much work. We degnomed the garden and pulled weeds for the Potters. Mr. Potter's back isn't much for garden work anymore. Then the four of us went for a run around the town. Bloody James won again. I finally beat Sirius though." Remus appeared down the hall, barely placing a blue and white striped button down on his shoulders.

"Beat Sirius did you? He seems like he would be a sore loser." Hermione stood up to meet him, knees brushing his shins. She removed his hands from his buttons and took up that matter in her own fingers.

"Oh, he certainly is." Remus replied, his voice now low and gravelly. He bent low and kissed the crux of her neck. Her mouth somehow found his in a moment; hands paused at the fourth button. His hands slid low on her hips, drawing her in impossibly closer. Her tongue was in his mouth, exploring his incisors first and then twisting with his tongue as well. The spearmint smell that was now surrounding her seemed to completely enthrall her mind, rendering it completely useless from thought. They leaned back down on the couch ever slowly. He broke the kiss and looked at her with a certain hunger- it made Hermione's mouth water. He kissed her again, softly this time but he leaned back on his knees. Taking a deep breath with his eyes closed, he seemed to have some inner mediations drumming through his mind. Slightly lamenting at the loss of contact, Hermione took that moment to pull away from him and right herself as well. Thoughts flooded back in, as they always did and Hermione turned the color of a radish.

"_Yes Sirius?" _Remus called out with an air of complete irritation. Hermione realized for the first time, the sound of panting coming from outside.

"Hey Moony, Mum Potter wants us all up for lunch-"The sound of the door being unlocked from the outside. Then Sirius Black had let himself in. The fact that Sirius had his motorbike jacket on with blue jeans and white tee, did not make Hermione feel any better about Sirius' ridiculously enormous grin.

"Oh look, fancy finding Hermione here. I would have _never_ guessed. Well now 'Mione you are something exceptional for our Mr. Moony to howl at, if I should say so myself." Remus let out a little growl under his breath as Sirius' did an exaggerated once over on Hermione. She just rolled her eyes.

"Hello Sirius." She rose to give him a light one-handed hug, the other hand was being possessively held by Remus who was at arm-length. Sirius hugged her back, a chuckle vibrating his chest. Hermione wondered if Remus even knew he was being possessive. Her instinct was to wrap her arm around Remus' and he seemed to look a little less edgy once the proximity from Sirius grew. They followed Sirius up toward the back door and she caught glimpses of Lily's red-hair through the wide window overlooking the backyard. When the three of them entered, Hermione was not surprised to find everyone crowding at the huge table at one end of the enormous kitchen all fine Italian-imported tiles and marble counter tops. They were actually the same marble that Hermione was used to seeing in Remus' bathroom. She wondered idly if they had had some left over.

Peter Pettigrew was the first to greet her, a wide, creepy smile and a wave was offered to her as he listened in at Lily's side devotionally. He seemed to do a double-take then, eyeing Remus' and her own entwined arms suspiciously. Remus must have made a face at him, because in the next moment, he was looking over Lily's shoulder again, suddenly interested in the conversation once more. Mrs. Potter and James were standing at the counter chopping up something Hermione didn't catch sight of before being escorted to the table. Lily was seated next to Mr. Potter and they were deep in conversation when Remus and Hermione sat across from them. Sirius apparently had relieved Mrs. Potter from preparing lunch and in a flash Mrs. Potter was sitting next to her. Hermione caught a wink from Lily as she turned to regard Mrs. Potter who was eyeing her excitedly.

Mrs. Potter was the type of woman that anyone would like upon sight. It was obvious she was up in age, but it was also obvious her regal demeanor was not learned but inherent. In truth, James looked nothing like her, not a single thing that she could spot was on her son's face. Then again, there was that thousand-watt smile. She was a small, thin lady who could barely boast 5 feet. The woman shook her hand once and welcomed her.

"I'm Lucinda Potter, Miss Hermione and this is my husband, Demetrius Potter." She offered, gesturing at him as if they were both on a throne. Her voice did not have the slightest of snootiness to it, but a complete air of genteel interest. "These boys of ours haven't been able to keep their mouths shut about you since they got home. Especially dear Remus." Hermione spied a glance of Remus from behind her, a look of interest on his face. "We shall talk more in confidence later, we are glad to have you. Now, you are not allergic to anything curious are you? The boys are finishing up the Asian Chicken Salad. The meat pies are still in the oven, but the Split Pea soup has been simmering all morning."

"Thank you so much for inviting me Mrs. Potter. It smells delicious." Hermione said, turning toward her plate now. She let her hand drop to one side, Remus' knuckles brushing carefully with her own. It was clear then, as the afternoon sun came brightly in the window that all that Potters, including Sirius were accustomed to much more fancy meals. It was just Lily, Peter, Remus, and herself who although they all sat up straight, they did not have the air of elegance like the rest. Hermione glanced at the wide threshold of hallway on the other end of the kitchen, barely making out the leg of a more regal-looking table. Mrs. Potter was sparing her guests any awkwardness that they may have felt trying to mesh with the grandeur of a pureblood function. She was a saint, certainly. She spied a glance at Mr. Potter over the mint-colored tablecloth and he was looking directly at her when she did. James was the exact image of his father, just decades younger. His face although worn and wrinkled, still offered a mischievous smile. James got it all from him. Remus put a sizable portion of salad on both of their plates before passing down the bowl to Mrs. Potter's hands. His knuckles brushed hers again just below the table, his first finger wrapped delicately around hers.

The gesture was sweet and it was reassuring in the company that by all means she felt she should impress, but it got her thinking. The idea of her being nervous to meet his "family" was something of a "step" toward a very serious relationship wasn't it? Once more: half these people would be wondering where Miss Hermione Granger had gone off to in just a month's time. Oh yes, it was most certainly time to talk to Remus. It was probably time to talk a month ago, when she accepted his first date. The issue was not how long she had put off this particular conversation, but now the stakes were irrevocably higher. The Potters knew she was attached to Remus, the Marauders knew too much, and well she had made a right buggery of going incognito. What about Voldemort, did he-"HERMIONE!" It was Lily who had waved her hand frantically in front of Hermione's face.

"You all right in there?" Lily asked giggling slightly, "You looked like you had been petrified there for a second."

Hermione's modest blush intensified as every single pair of eyes focused on her and her plight. "I apologize. I guess I've been a bit on edge lately." Hermione replied looking around and settling on Mrs. Potter's interested face.

"Really, well don't worry. Whatever you've got on your shoulders, you should pay no never mind to here. The Hollow is virtually impenetrable, Merlin willing." Mrs. Potter offered, placing a soft hand on her shoulder for a few seconds and then dropped it again to her lap.

"Lucy is right, love. Our house is warded from those who don't know that it is already there and unplottable since silly Riddle started running around with his band of nutters. Breathe easy darling. They won't find us here." Hermione smiled weakly at the sentiment whilst the older gentleman swallowed down large piece of romaine. She wished that Mr. Potter could be right.

"Now what were you saying Lily? About your muggle sister." Lily looked over at Hermione and smiled.

"I was trying to ask Hermione about her parents. I heard you were a half-blood. Did your parents take issue with your being a witch, like my sister Petunia?" Hermione caught a private look of anguish cross James' face aimed toward Lily. She in turn smiled brightly, as if she would not be fazed by such silly ideas. She pushed her beautiful red hair behind her ear and looked at Hermione interestedly.

"Well my parents were obliviated." She looked around. Mrs. Potter coughed into her napkin respectfully and Wormtail did not spare her the look of complete despair that crossed his features. She felt Remus squeeze her hand fully now. Hermione was nervous to carry on if Obliviation wasn't even thought of yet. Technically she was telling the truth though. But seeing everyone's downcast eyes made her guilty.

"In Australia, where I worked it was necessary to perform this new memory charm on them to make them forget me. It was the best way to keep them out of danger. But Lily, as a child my parents were always very encouraging." Hermione finished. Everyone seemed stunned. Then that stunned turned to heartbroken for Hermione's condition.

James as bold as brass, launched the direction into a completely different sort of avenue, much to Hermione's relief. As he carried on about things he was sure Sirius wished he could forget, Hermione ate the rest of her salad and some soup too. By the time Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius for the fourth time, Hermione was feeling generally nervous with the people who were around her. They were an accommodating and warm people that she was sure she would be with forever if this were her true place, but now she felt almost at odds with them. It was a strange thought to be at odds with the Potters and the Marauders, but it was mainly because she felt uncomfortable with what questions may come at her next. She was sure that she must be making the "homesick" look very convincing with all of her nervous fidgeting. Hermione reminded herself that she should just enjoy this time with them. At this point all of these lovely people were hopefully innocent, directing a secret look at Wormtail and she would have to enjoy it. Harry would be absolutely livid with her if he knew that she got to sit at dinner with all of the people he never got to meet and she wasted it away being paranoid. She should be thankful. Possibly? Paranoia was something the war taught her to be, think, feel. Constant vigilance.

Lunch concluded and much to Hermione's joy, Mrs. Potter seemed to be preoccupied with walking to the bakery with Mr. Potter. It was nice watching them disappear, after the table had been cleared of course, down the path holding hands. It gave her hope for fragile feelings like love. She wondered how long the Potters had been married, or if she would ever walk to the bakery with someone like that someday. The Marauders all stayed seated at the table, all of them immersed in the latest Quidditch scores. An ache started in the back of her throat, the group reminded her a little of Sunday lunch with the boys at the Burrow. She missed them. Remus caught her eye just then and she felt her cheeks heat at the measure of intensity that he was aiming toward her. It was like his hazel eyes could see more than anyone else in the room. Hermione found herself staring back, caught by him. Suddenly his eye contact broke and he addressed his friends about how it was getting late in the afternoon. Sirius erupted in his bark-like laugh and winked at Hermione, which she was certain Remus growled to. That only seemed to make Sirius laugh louder. James caught up the empty chair next to Lily and elbowed Sirius as he went.

"If Moony wants a bit with his girl, I say let 'em. They both know that they can't get up to much anyway, or rather not for that long."

Wormtail raised his eyebrows at the pair of them. Sirius reclined in his chair on two of its legs, while Lily tried to suppress a hearty laugh. Hermione looked away from the table and out through the particles of dust that were glimmering against the Italian countertops. The entire situation was all the more awkward the longer she thought on it.

"I say it is a bad idea." Wormtail offered, his face heating as the words stumbled out. The eyes of everyone in the room went to Pettigrew with the exception of Hermione whose eyes were suddenly transfixed on the hem of her skirt. The beat of silence was almost stifling. Couldn't they just go back to embarrassing jokes?

Hermione stole a glance at Remus whose face looked impeccably devoid of emotion. It was James who spoke though. "Would you like to grace us with any particular reason why?"

"Ugh…well…" Hermione caught a very flustered and nervous-looking Pettigrew through her eyelashes. What would he say? What could he say? He had _nothing_ on her, unless one of the boys had unknowingly filled him in. It was hard to find the control to hide sudden butterflies in her stomach.

"Spit it out Wormtail!" Sirius barked. Then Hermione realized how the whole situation must have sounded to the rest of them. It was as if Peter didn't agree of Remus' relationship all together. Lily stood up quite abruptly and crossed to the back door. She opened the door as if the nonexistent wind from outside would take with it the heaviness of the room.

"Well, it is just that we don't know _anything_ about Granger. I mean…well just _nothing._ She could be…" Then Remus lost it, he had relinquished Hermione's hand and stood so quickly Hermione found herself looking up in shock. There he was, both hands firmly on the table leaning so that his face was practically inches from Pettigrew's face. Unsure of what Remus would do next, Hermione stood too. She put a hand on his shoulder and pulled back on him carefully. Keeping his eyes transfixed on Peter's he stood to his full height instead, backing off a bit from the table.

"What are you implying Pete?" Sirius asked the two front legs of his chair, pounded into place on the floor. Hermione didn't want to hear the answer, she just gave James a warning look, hoping that he wouldn't out her and she pulled Remus by the shoulder once more.

"Remus?" Lily asked hopefully. Although, he did not turn to look at her, he did reply with a grunt. "Why don't you and Hermione escort me to the portkey?" Remus turned to Hermione and let out a breath. He nodded at Hermione and they followed a relieved-looking Lily away from confrontation and into the backyard once more. "My parents wanted me home early today. They are having supper with Petunia and her new fiancé. Apparently they really want me there."

Hermione and Remus saw her off, each step away from the house a blessing. As they started back toward Remus' shack again, his face was notably clear of that monstrous anger. Pleased to find her bag still in its place on the muddy-colored sofa, Hermione fetched the small vial of Wolfsbane, offering it to him. Remus only looked relieved when he handed it to her, but as he choked it back, it was clear how foul it tasted.

"Couldn't you put something in it to mask that-"Hermione shook her head sympathetically. She led him to the couch and pulled out a bottle of pop from her satchel. As he downed the bottle, she went behind the couch and rubbed his shoulders reassuringly. The books that she had read on lycanthropic transformation all described the event as being extremely painful and hard on the body. She wondered what it was that Remus imagined his future was like with her. He moaned quietly as she worked on the tension in his neck. Hermione wished she could offer him a life that was as easy as he was probably imagining. She wished that she could believe in a future where there was no Voldemort and they only had to worry about the mortgage, his monthly issue, and getting together with the mates. In her dreams, she wished they had a future together period. As she worked at his lean shoulders she imagined a life where she didn't know the future and everything turned out perfect. Remus pulled at her hands then and he had pulled her over the couch's back onto his lap in the next moment.

Hermione felt it then, with Remus' eyes wild with want and his arms wrapped tightly onto her waist, she felt his erection, heavy and hard on the underside of her thigh. Although there were at least three layers between them, Hermione's own interest for the man blossomed then. She wasn't sure what happened first, that her knees were digging into the couch at either side of his hips, or that her silk blouse was rising indecently high, leaving his hands roaming everywhere. His fingers kneaded at Hermione's white bra while his tongue pushed and prodded at her own tongue. Mischievous fingers pulled down on the straps of her bra even as those same thin straps tangled with the shirt, Remus' interest endeavored.

Curious, Hermione moved her thighs against his hips and she got a growl of approval in response. Hermione was flipped onto her back, her position much more comfortable lengthwise on the sofa. She felt thin fingers resting around at the back of her neck as he pillowed her head. He was above her, kissing her hard and putting pressure with his trousers at her core. Hermione was breathing hard with arousal and holding onto Remus' back for dear life. As her hands rode up underneath his very rumpled shirt and onto heated skin, she couldn't help but realize how much she wanted him. She was surprised again when Remus had half unbuttoned her shirt and pulled her bra down with some force. His mouth was gone from hers. Warm and wet lips were a catalyst to the heat in her core as he worshipped each breast with his tongue. Hermione moaned his name loud at the pleasure he was offering her and ground her hips against his for good measure. His eyes were clouded with lust and amusement as he looked up at her. The hand that was pulling at her bra then ghosted down low and out of sight, beneath her skirt that had ridden up in a bunch when growled in irritation.

Hermione's haze lifted as she heard the incessant banging at the door. Then she realized the light was low and dim in the room, almost sunset. Remus took in deep breath through his mouth as he pried himself off of her. She straightened out her skirt and shirt in record time as she struggled to sit upright on the couch. Remus stood and barked something about 'patience' at the door. He looked her over once more and bent low to offer a chaste kiss, which Hermione was certain took more than a little effort to pull off. She was sure it was tough on her part. He smiled at her long-sufferingly before removing his blue striped shirt altogether and tossing it to the couch. Remus looked back to the door again as James said something that Hermione didn't catch. Hermione stood and walked him to the door, collecting her bag from its forgotten place on the floor as they went. Opening the door, he didn't hesitate to punch James hard in the shoulder before glancing at her bag. "You can stay if you want, Hermione. Sleep in my bed if you'd like. We'll be in the Forbidden Forest tonight-" He dipped low to her ear before continuing, "and I think that having a few more towns in between you and I may make it easier on Padfoot and Prongs tonight." Some strange-sounding growl erupted from Remus' chest then. And as if he couldn't stop himself, Remus nipped openly at Hermione's ear, making it smart. "_Mine."_

Hermione's eyes were wide with surprise again as Remus made eye contact with her a final time, his iris' now turning a threatening-looking amber. Over Remus' shoulder, his best mates were trying their best not to laugh. As she shut and bolted the door behind them, Hermione turned to view the sitting room again. She held her throbbing ear, trying to rub away the pain, but Hermione shivered as she looked at Remus' shirt hanging off of the couch. She wondered what worse, knowing that she just got marked as Remus' property, or enjoying it a little too much.

* * *

Timetravel Lover: Sorry I made you wait so long, I hope this made up for it.

Monnbeam: Unfortunately, Hermione's rational mind may keep her from letting her heart run away from her. She wants to save everyone, but that just isn't possible without the disrupting everything.

Shlee: Thanks for reviewing and I hope that you didn't die from curiosity.

Smithback: You're pretty awesome yourself.

Sweet-tang-honney: I hope that you'll keep reading!

SB01: What a well thought out review. I blame Hermione's level head for making my story pragmatic, but I do endeavor to keep her true to form even when she is stuck between doing what she wishes she could do and what she must do.

Voldemort fan: I hope I did soon enough.

Smeghead: I am glad that I could do a little magic for you and make that last chapter suddenly appear. Hopefully you enjoyed this one just as much.


	12. Who is She? Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor would I ever claim to for fear of ending in the rotter. The books and the canon are owned by J.K, even if I wish she had thrown the seventh book away. Warner Bros has their hands in the movies and I suppose all the rest, which I dare never to contest.

* * *

It was probably the summer rain beating into the windowsill that awoke Hermione from her place in Remus' bed. As she stared lazily at the dripping from the pane to the wooden floor boards below, her senses slowly drifted into place. It was his smell first. Her messy hair was completely tangled and wrecked as she adjusted the blanket and pillow a bit to better inhale the fresh grass mangled with dirt, and exhaustion along with fresh parchment coming from the corner of his room. Remus was ridiculously warm somewhere behind her, with his worn hand low on her hip. As stealthily as Hermione could manage, she shifted her weight to roll over in place so she could get a good look at him in the dim light of the room. He was dead to the world.

She vaguely remembered pulling the sheets back for Remus as James, Sirius, and Pete carried him in at dawn. Sirius said that he had run himself into the ground. James mentioned something about how he had run all night and they were at Hogwarts around 5 in the morning. Peter felt it prudent to add that the wolf had looked defeated when the sunrise came. Remus was right then, to tell her to stay here for the night.

She closed her eyes, listening to Remus' quiet respiration. The slow rise and fall of his chest moved the rickety little bed. As it was, she felt like she was meant to be there, just for a moment. That moment was fleeting. She stood slowly, or she would have if she had been able to. The dead Remus was not so dead after all. His arm clung to her hip as she stood and he moaned in his sleep. Hermione quickly removed his arm from her and tried to slip from the room. She stripped away at her clothes, her mind racing. It had finally hit her. Remus Lupin had claimed her for his own and it made her guiltier than she had ever been. She couldn't leave this house without telling him the truth. He would most likely become angry when he knew the truth, thinking that she had meant to mislead him. She didn't know now why she had let him keep on believing she was someone she was certainly not. The heart hurts, but it does not lie. She let the water pour over her face and soak her hair. It was easy to let him think of her something that she wished was true. She could lie to herself, but she couldn't lie to him. Not now.

The water started to run cold and rather than try to warm it again, she got out staring at herself in the mirror for a long moment, before dressing. Being here had done a job on her complexion. She looked stressed now, her body forgot even as her mind remembered the tasks ahead. She dressed slowly, walking out of the bathroom half dressed to search for the belt of her skirt. There Remus was, standing there right next to the bed, looking wide awake for some reason. "Are you leaving?" He asked her, and she already knew the answer she should give. Hermione found it difficult to nod, but she found the strength. His eyes looked pained even from across the room. She continued to button her shirt, finding her belt on the floor next to his bed. He was silent for a long moment, moving to embrace her from behind. He looked very tired as he walked, swaying a bit as he held her.

"Why are you awake? I heard that you ran yourself ragged." Hermione said, breaking the silence. He kissed her neck slowly then, sucking on her tiny mark from yesterday in reply. "Did I make you uncomfortable by claiming you?" Remus asked quietly, worrying that that was why she was leaving. She moaned softly over his ministrations, her guilt fading away into putty. How could she tell him if she always got so distracted?

It was just so electric, every moment that brought them back to the bed. He slid his hand down her side, making her turn her head to connect her mouth with his. She was met eagerly, as he dropped her back to the bed. He pushed her half-buttoned shirt off of her shoulders as he kissed her hotly. Hermione's mind buzzed with need as his lips moved lower on her neck and down her chest. There was certain madness, earnestness, eagerness in his kiss. Hermione unbuttoned her shirt again, worried he'd pop a button with the way it was hanging on her. In the next moment it was off of her completely, thrown in a heap on the floor. Remus was positively humming with need, slipping her bra straps from her shoulders. Hermione moaned loudly, her mind giving over to her body. She felt his manhood grinding against her thigh even if they were both still mostly clothed and that made her shiver.

Hermione ran her hands up his chest, making Remus mutter something to her that she couldn't quite catch. She slid his loose t-shirt off of him loving the feeling of skin against skin. Remus was beautiful and even with the fresh scratches on his arms, he looked glorious above her. The man unclasped her bra, sliding it smoothly off of her as he sucked at her peaked breasts. Remus moaned along with Hermione at his ministrations, enjoying her every curve. Hermione slid her curious hands lower from his chest to the bulk of his passion, gasping slightly. Ron was nothing to this. How was his length going to fit? Realistically she knew the answer, but this didn't feel real. She heard Remus growl as she pressed her hand to him in his jeans. The sound shot to her core making her moan as her hand rubbed against his clothed erection.

Then as if she had come out of the haze, she withdrew from him as if he had burned her. Remus quickly removed his hands as well, rolling off of her carefully. "I'm sorry, uh…I didn't mean to scare you." Hermione shook her head, as if to clear her mind. "No, no, it's not you it's me." Remus just looked at her for a moment, his mouth falling open. Was she going to break up with him? Hermione covered her face with her hand. "No Remus. It's really just me, being a complete jerk. Look, I have something to tell you." Remus squinted a bit, as if trying to understand exactly what she was trying to get at. He sat up a bit, even as Hermione covered herself with the sheet and started redressing slowly. It was the first time she had ever felt ashamed by him. "Remus, I'm not who you think I am."

There was a long silence between them before Remus cleared his throat, obviously a bit confused. "What do you mean? Because whatever it is, you can tell me. I love…" Hermione held up her hands in an attempt to stop those particular words from coming out. That was something she couldn't very well bear. That was especially not with what she had to say now.

"Do you remember when Sirius and James told you that I was your wife? Well, it's not true." Hermione said, sitting back down next to him. Remus blinked several times as if seeing clearly might resolve something for him. Hermione pushed on, worried that her words would cease at any moment. "I hadn't planned to hurt you or mislead you, it just seemed safer than the truth at the time." Hermione added, looking from her hands firmly clasped on her knees to his face, now beginning to twist with hurt and twinges of anger. She pushed her hair behind her shoulders before she opened her mouth to speak again.

"And what's the truth?" His voice low and his eyes were unwavering on hers. Hermione counted her breaths before she answered. "I'm your student. That is to say you were my professor, fellow Order member, and friend in the future. The _far_ future," she corrected, smoothing out the hem of her skirt. The guilt washed over her in waves, making her feel vaguely nauseous.

Remus bristled considerably, not sure if, or what he should ask first. This was entirely his fault wasn't it? Merlin, he was tired. He loved this girl, but whom on earth was she? Now, he hardly knew. Remus didn't have the heart to be repulsed by this liar at his bedside. He had been lied to, let down so many times before, and now that it was her doing it, well he might as well know everything. After all, everyone has to have an agenda don't they? He was probably some pawn and her guilty conscience wouldn't let her continue her façade. The room was still and she hadn't run from him yet. That was something.

"And we were never…" _Intimate._ This was ridiculous. He had claimed some complete stranger, been about to shag her, about to tell her he loved her. He had been about to tell her everything and now here he was, frozen to the spot with a plethora of tied emotions. Disappointment was tied with anger. Anger with guilt. Guilt with sorrow. It went on and on. Remus' head was spinning and the inner wolf raged, angered that he had been trapped by this whole web, while Remus himself, felt guilty for so many things. Miserable knowing that he had assumed so much of her.

Hermione closed her eyes for a long moment, feeling guilty for having been so close with him; for doing something that seemed ethically wrong in the slightest. "Never." Remus wasn't sure if he was relieved by the news or not, although that did answer one question. "So what is it you're here for then?" Remus asked, the words having a bit of bitterness on them, though he wasn't even honestly sure what he was asking.

What question was worse? Was he asking if she was messing around with him just because, or was he asking if she had some sort of agenda? Hermione moved to rest her hand on his briefly. "I never- Merlin, Remus. I really like you. What we had been doing before, the time we spent together; that was all real. I enjoyed every second of it. I'm not just smart muggle-born Hermione around you. I felt like I was a person, like we were great together. And I can't stop how attracted I am to you. But in the future, well…you have someone. A family and I wouldn't ever want to take that from you." Hermione said, and Remus' eyes widened considerably.

She felt ridiculous. Sitting here improperly on Remus Lupin's bed. How on earth, could he possibly forgive her for practically ruining his life for him, much less not telling him about how all of his best friends would be dead or in Azkaban in the next year or so.

"I'm so sorry. I can't apologize enough for misleading you. I really do care-" Remus let out a breath and stood. He pointed toward the door. "You know what, I can't handle any of this right now. Get out." Remus said calmly, although his words were much more painful than his tone. Hermione looked at the ground before nodding and disapparating. Remus closed his eyes and covered them with his hand, before laying back down completely deflated.

* * *

AN: Yes, I know it's shorter than normal, but this has turned into a two-parter. The other part is currently in production and I know I've said this before, but it will not be too long until you get the other half. Thanks to that steady flow of favorites and reviews I've been receiving over the last nine months and I am hopeful you'll stick around for more. From here, I'm thinking we've got five more chapters to go. So now, I believe some long awaiting replies are in order. Oh Merlin, I uploaded this and the length really was disappointing. I apologize and believe me when I say, the next chapter will be much, much longer.

_Whoo-Whoop_ – Thanks for the very direct review. Unfortunately, the Tonks/Teddy situation is going to be part of it, but that's just because it's a part of Remus. Don't worry, it will not ruin things too much. Hang in there.

_Forestreject_- I love your subtle reaction to everything. Remus can manage. He has been through so much, but he can always handle more. Believe me when I say that I have always thought of him as an alpha, and alphas don't ever really give up.

_Brooke Alanah _– Thanks for the sweet review. Hope I leave you wanting more.

_Moonlightwolfwhisperer –_ You worry too much. Hermione's guilt is insurmountable at this point. All I can say is that she'll get on the right track in the next chapter. Even if I wish that she wasn't so set in her ways some times. Thanks for the support.

_Padfootsgrl79- _And thank you for the lovely review. I do hope to keep things going and hopefully, you'll keep coming back for more?

_Myheart112810- _Okay, I will. 3


End file.
